Sensex Ends Over 550 Points Higher On Hopes Of Better Monsoon

3:50 p.m.: The Sensex ended 576 points higher at 25,881 and Nifty advanced 186 points to end at 7,935.

3:08 p.m.: Top Nifty gainers: Tech Mahindra (+10 per cent), IndusInd Bank (+5 per cent), ICICI Bank (+4.5 per cent), BHEL (+3.95 per cent) and Larsen & Toubro (+3.76 per cent).

3:00 p.m.: From the Nifty50 basket of stocks, 50 were advancing while Cipla was the only loser.

2:40 p.m.: Market breadth remains strong as 1,543 stocks advance while 904 decline.

2:36 p.m.: Stock markets extend gains; Sensex surges 532 points to hit intraday high of 25,838 and Nifty surges 171 points to 7,920.

2:22 p.m.: Ashok Leyland Q4 net profit falls to Rs 77 crore compared with Rs 230 crore during the same quarter last year; shares slump over 6.5 per cent to hit intraday low of Rs 95.

2:12 p.m.: Bajaj Auto reported a net profit of Rs 803 crore on net sales of Rs 5,411 crore in March quarter, beating Street estimates. The two-wheeler major also beat margin estimates in Q4, leading to over 5 per cent rally in its shares. (Read)

2:04 p.m.: Stock markets continue to witness strong buying interest. Sensex rises 482 points to 25,788 and Nifty rallies 159 points to 7,907.

1:51 p.m.: Bajaj Auto reports net profit of Rs 803 crore on sales of Rs 5,411 crore; shares rally 4.3 per cent to Rs 2,487.

1:47 p.m.: Continuing its downtrend for the second straight session today, shares of VRL Logistics plunged nearly 20 per cent amid worries over its promoters' proposed investment in regional airline venture and its impact on the firm's balance sheet.

The stock nosedived 19.7 per cent to Rs 253, its 52-week low level, on BSE.

1:22 p.m.: Shares of Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) traded higher on Wednesday ahead of their fourth quarter earnings announcement. 

Here's what you should know ahead of earnings announcement. 

1:13 p.m.: European markets move higher; Germany's DAX advances 0.83 per cent, France's CAC40 jumps 0.55 per cent and Britain's FTSE100 rises 0.61 per cent.

1:04 p.m.: Larsen & Toubro trades 2.6 per cent higher at Rs 1,275 ahead of Q4 earnings. Brokers polled by NDTV Profit expect Larsen & Toubro to report consolidated net profit of Rs 1,950 crore on sales of Rs 30,248 crore. EBITDA is expected to come in at Rs 3,925 crore while EBITDA margins are expected at 12.9 per cent compared with 12.8 per cent during the corresponding quarter previous year.

12:48 p.m.: Tech Mahindra shares rallied nearly 11 per cent to 52-week high on Wednesday as investors cheered the IT major's Q4 earnings. Tech Mahindra finished FY16 with 12.7 per cent constant currency growth, higher than 12.3 per cent growth for the IT industry. Tech Mahindra was the top Nifty50 gainer today.

Here are the reasons for the sharp rally in Tech Mahindra.

12:35 p.m.: Capital goods stocks were also witnessing buying interest. The rally in capital goods shares was led by gains in Larsen & Toubro, BHEL, Siemens, Havells India, ABB, Bharat Electronics, SKF India and Suzlon.

12:20 p.m.: Ruchi Soya was the top loser from the small-cap space, down 16 per cent to Rs 18.50. VRL Logistics, SE Investments, Surana Solar, Bliss GVS Pharma, GSFC, Rainbow Papers and SRS Real Infrastructure.

12:07 p.m.: Cipla shares slumped over 6 per cent on Wednesday, underperforming the broader Nifty, which traded 1.75 per cent higher. Cipla was also the top Nifty50 loser today.

Here are the reasons why Cipla came under selloff.

12:03 p.m.: The stock markets continue to witness strong buying interest. Sensex rallies 438 points to 25,743 and Nifty surges 142 points to move closer to its crucial psychological level of 7,900.

11:55 a.m.: Global investment bank Morgan Stanley on Wednesday upgraded Indian equities to "overweight" from "equal weight" citing in a boost for investors. (Read)

11:51 a.m.: Asian shares jumped on Wednesday, taking cues from sharp gains in European and U.S. markets, while the dollar firmed as upbeat U.S. home sales supported the view that the economy may be strong enough for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in coming months.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.6 percent while Japan's Nikkei surged 1.8 per cent as exporters got a boost from a weaker yen.

11:45 a.m.: Bank Nifty continues northward journey, rises 2.35 per cent or 386 points to 16,843; Canara Bank was the top gainer from this space, up 1.3 per cent to Rs 190. ICICI Bank, Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India amd Axis Bank were also up 2-3.65 per cent each.

11:38 a.m.: Shares of Ruchi Soya Industries tumbled 15 per cent in early trade today after Sebi barred the company from the securities market for alleged fraudulent activities in trading of castor seeds. (Read)

11:29 a.m.: Nifty 7,900 call option was the most active options contract on the National Stock Exchange. The premium on the contract surged 390 per cent to Rs 16.20; as many as 1.37 million shares were added to the open interest of over 7.9 million shares.

11:08 a.m.: Stock markets continue to trade on a strong note. Sensex rises 382 points to 25,687 and Nifty rallies 124 points to 7,872.

11:00 a.m.: Just Dial shares have fallen 15 per cent in just two sessions (Monday and Tuesday), following the local search service provider' Q4 earnings on Saturday. Although Just Dial's Q4 earnings were better than Street estimates, the management's revenue guidance for FY17 disappointed investors. (Read)

10:46 a.m.: Zee Media was the top gainer from the small-cap space, up 16.4 per cent to Rs 21.30. Asahi Songwon Colors, Linc Pen & Plastics, PI Industries, Atlanta, Nilkamal, Lanco Infratech and J Kumar Infraprojects were also among the gainers.

10:32 a.m.: Rally in the stock markets was led by gains in HDFC, ICICI Bank, Infosys, HDFC Bank, TCS, ITC, Axis Bank and Tata Motors.

10:26 a.m.: The market breadth was positive as 1,349 stocks were advancing while 496 were declining.

10:12 a.m.: Banking stocks were witnessing good buying interest. The Nifty Bank index was the top sectoral gainer, up 2 per cent or 340 points at 16,797; IndusInd Bank was the top gainer, from this space, up 3.3 per cent to Rs 1,078. ICICI Bank, Canara Bank, Axis Bank, Punjab National Bank and Federal Bank were also among the gainers, up 2-3 per cent each.

10:08 a.m.: Oriental Bank of Commerce was the top mid-cap gainer, up 4 per cent to Rs 80.50. Berger Paints, UPL, Jindal Steel, Bajaj Holdings, JP Associates, Torrent Pharma and Britannia Industries were also among the gainers, 2.4-3.9 per cent each.

9:49 a.m.: The stock markets continue to witness buying interest. Sensex rallies 311 points to 25,617 and Nifty surges 103 points to 7,852.

9:39 a.m.: Tech Mahindra extends gains, surges 11 per cent to hit intraday high of Rs 532 on strong Q4 numbers.

9:30 a.m.: The Sensex rose over 250 points while the 50-share Nifty moved above its crucial psychological level of 7,800 on the back of buying in IT, capital goods, auto and banking stocks amid positive global cues.

At 9:30 a.m., the Sensex was up 268 points at 25,574 and Nifty advanced 89 points to 7,837.

From the Nifty50 basket of stocks, 48 stocks were advancing while only 3 were declining.

Tech Mahindra was the top Nifty gainer, the stock rallied over 5 per cent to hit intraday high of Rs 510.80 after the IT services firm on Tuesday post the market hours said its consolidated net profit has almost doubled to Rs 897.08 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.

The Mumbai-based company had posted a net profit of Rs 472 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The company's revenue grew 12.5 per cent to Rs 6,883.73 crore in the reported quarter from Rs 6,116.79 crore in the January-March quarter of 2015.

Hindalco, Tata Motors, Ambuja Cements, Axis Bank, HDFC, TCS, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India and Infosys were also among the gainers, up 1.5-2.8 per cent each.

On the other hand, Cipla was the top Nifty loser; the stock fell over 4.5 per cent to Rs 471.20 after India's fifth-largest drugmaker by sales, reported a 69 per cent fall in its quarterly profit, well below analysts' forecasts, due to one-off costs related to its business in Europe and some emerging markets.

On the sectoral front, buying was visible across the sectors with IT stocks leading the gains, the BSE IT index advanced 1.55 per cent. Banking, realty, capital goods, auto and power indices were up over a per cent each.

The broader markets were underperforming the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices were up 0.6 per cent, compared to over 1 per cent gain in the benchmark indices.