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Benchmark indices have extended gains aided by strong buying in rate-sensitive stocks and select index heavyweights which saw Nifty crossing 8,400 mark and Sensex thrusting over 28,000 mark.
The government will unveil industrial production data for September 2014 and consumer price inflation data for October after market hours today.
The hopes of a rate cut by RBI in its December monetary policy update following a fall in inflation numbers has boosted rate-sensitives, particularly auto shares with Tata Motors and Baja Auto gaining around 2.7% each leading the pack.
At 10:35 AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 196 points at 28,106 and the 50-share Nifty was up 43 points at 8,406.
In the broader market, BSE Mid-Cap and Small-Cap indices have slightly outperformed their larger peers with gains close to 0.7% and 06% respectively. Market breadth is significantly positive with almost two gainers for every decline.
The rupee is trading at 61.53 vs Tuesday's close of 61.55 against US Dollar ahead of the CPI data.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 458.04 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.
Sectors and Stocks
BSE Auto index, up 1.4% is the biggest gainer followed by BSE Bankex index which is up around 0.8%. All other sectors are in green with the exception of BSE Metal index which is trading flat with a negative bias.
Rate-sensitive stocks have gained on hopes of a rate cut by RBI in its December monetary policy update following a fall in inflation numbers.
Auto stocks are the biggest gainers with Tata Motors and Bajaj Motors leading the pack with gains of around 2.7% each. Hero Motocorp has gained around 1.5%.
Earlier, Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra announced price increases by 1-2% citing higher input costs
Among bank shares, ICICI Bank has gained more than 1% while SBI, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank have gained around 0.6% each.
Meanwhile, HDFC Bank's request for a post-facto approval to the hike in FDI limit in the bank will be considered by FIPB on Friday.
The fall of Brent crude prices to a four-year low due to supply glut has seen fresh buying in oil & gas shares too. Reliance, ONGC and GAIL have gained around 0.2% each.
Tata Steel has lost around 0.8% and BPCL has gained around 0.7% ahead of the release of their Q2 results later today.
Power Grid Corporation has lost around 2% after reporting a marginal decline in its profits for the July-September quarter of 2015 fiscal to Rs 1,201 crore compared to the figure of 1,239 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.
Ahead to their quarterly results, OIL India, Reliance Infra, Reliance Power, FTIL, Adani Enterprises and PC Jewellers among others will be focus.
Among other shares, Minda Industries has soared 13% after reporting nearly five-fold jump net profit at Rs 25.58 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2014 (Q2), due to strong operational income and exceptional item gain on account of sale of battery division.
Asian Markets
In Asia, Japanese stocks have jumped on Wednesday as investors cheered reports that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will delay a planned sales tax rise to rejuvenate Japan's fragile economic recovery, and call a snap election to secure his political position.
The Nikkei benchmark has gained 1.4% to 17,356.75, hitting fresh seven-year highs.
Fixing of November, 17 as the date for linking the stock markets of China and Hong Kong has lifted Chinese shares. Hang Seng has gained around 0.2% while Shanghai Composite is trading flat.
