NIFTY50 trades above 23,250, SENSEX jumps 250 points; Cipla, Powergrid and M&M among top gainers

Domestic equity indices remained in the green in late morning deals due to buying by funds and retail investors. Meanwhile, broader indices were also trading in the green, with the BSE Midcap and Small-cap indices gaining 0.35-0.75%.

Strong buying in Power Grid, Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Tech Mahindra companies helped the markets trade higher. Some support came in as crude oil prices fell overnight after data showed crude inventories in the U.S. rose in the week ended January 24.

The market breadth was largely in favour of advances as 1787 stocks traded in green as against 878 in red out of 2,718 stocks traded on Wednesday.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed following negative cues from the US markets overnight. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen piling up positions in Realty, Oil & Gas, Energy, Capital Goods, and PSU, while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, IT, Auto, and TECK.

The SENSEX traded at 76776.94, up by 243.98 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 76426.83 and 76898.63. The index had 23 stocks advancing and 8 stocks declining.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.37%, while Small cap index up by 0.73%.

The NIFTY50 traded at 23265.95, up by 102.85 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 23139.20 and 23311.15. 40 stocks were advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

Asian markets were trading mixed; the Nikkei 225 rose 77.54 points or 0.19% to 39,491.62, while the Jakarta Composite dropped 97.49 points or 1.38% to 7,068.57.