The Indian stock market witnessed a sharp recovery in the last hour of the session, supported by buying in financial counters.
Among the headline indices, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 169 points, or 0.42 per cent to end at 40,795 levels while the NSE's Nifty50 index ended at 11,971, up 37 points, or 0.31 per cent. India VIX slipped nearly 2.5 per cent to 20.21 levels.
ICICI Bank, HDFC and HDFC Bank contributed the most to the Sensex's gains.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained 0.5 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended 0.19 per cent lower.
Among sectoral indices on the NSE, Nifty Bank gained 1.63% while Nifty Financial Services index rallied 1.8%. On the other hand, Nifty IT slipped 1.3%.
In the earnings corner, IT major Infosys reported a 20.5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 4,845 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 (Q2FY21). The information technology (IT) services major had posted a profit of Rs 4,019 crore in the year-ago period. On a sequential basis, profit grew 14.45 per cent.
Among individual stocks, Shares of Tata Steel Long Products were locked in the 20 per cent upper circuit band at Rs 403 on the BSE after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 59.06 crore in July-September quarter (Q2FY21). The company, formerly known as Tata Sponge Iron, had posted net loss of Rs 197 crore in the year-ago quarter.
Wipro ended nearly 7% lower on profit booking after the company reported a healthy July-September quarter (Q2FY21) results.
In the global markets
European shares held steady on Wednesday, underpinned by gains for Wall Street futures, following losses the day before on vaccine trials and a stimulus impasse, while the dollar was also stable.
Oil prices slipped as rising coronavirus cases stoked demand concerns.
 "Market Wrap, Oct 14: Here's all that happened in the markets today")
