MUMBAI: The Sensex is trading 1.24pct, or 289.47 points, higher at 23,671.34, while the Nifty is up 1.17 pct, or 82.90 points, at 7,191.35

3:10pm: The S&P BSE Sensex is trading 1.24 pct, or 289.47 points, higher at 23,671.34, while the Nifty 50 is up 1.17 pct, or 82.90 points, at 7,191.35.

2:30pm: The Sensex is currently trading higher by 73.27 points, or 0.31 pct, to 23,455.14, erasing some of its earlier gains but heading for its second straight day of gains, as stabilizing oil prices lifted mining and energy firms. The Nifty gains 33.15 points, or 0.52 pct, to 7,141.60.

2:20pm: The rupee erased all its early gains and is trading at 68.57 per U.S. dollar, down 0.13 pct, from its previous close of 68.47. The local currency opened at 68.38 a dollar and touched a low of 68.58 respectively.

2:10pm: Shares of railway sector-linked firms trade higher after media reports that cabinet committee on economic affairs approved construction of six railway lines and a railway bridge. The proposals will cost over 10,700 crore, according to a report in Business Standard, citing railway minister Suresh Prabhu. Shares in BEML, Kalindee Rail, Alstom, Siemens, Sanghvi Movers, Titagarh Wagons, Texmaco Rail and Engineering rise as much as 4 pct.

2:00pm: Drug maker Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories rises as much as 5.65 pct to 3,128 posting its biggest intraday percentage gain in nearly 4 months. The company’s board on Wednesday approved share buyback for up to 1,569 crore.

1:50pm: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd falls 3 pct to 3,638.70 after Mint reported that the company may fail to meet its volume growth target for fiscal 2016-17 because of capacity constraints. “There may be some temporary shortages,” chairman R.C. Bhargava said on the sidelines of the Make in India event on Wednesday. The company’s existing plants in Gurgaon and Manesar are running at peak capacities and the commissioning of its Gujarat plant will take a year, he said.

1:40pm: Bhel falls 2.9 pct after the company commissioned a 270 MW thermal unit in Punjab.

1:30pm: Oil equipment companies are trading higher on the back of higher volumes. Oil extended gains above $31 a barrel as Iran supported a proposal by Saudi Arabia and Russia to freeze production at near-record levels, without saying whether it would curb its own output, Bloomberg report said. GOL Offshore Ltd rises 8.5 pct to 39, Aban Offshore Ltd rises 13.4 pct to 171.35, Dolphin Offshore Enterprises India Ltd rises 8.1 pct to 82.90.

1:20pm: ARSS Infrastructure Projects Ltd rises 5.9 pct to 32.50 after the company said it got order worth 40.42 crore from NMDC.

1:10pm: Power Finance Corp Ltd and Rural Electrification falls in six out of eight sessions. Since 8 February to till date, PFC and REC fell 18.5 pct each. PFC was trading at 155.75 on BSE, down 3.5 pct while REC was trading at 146.05, down 3.3 pct.

1:00pm: Britannia Industries Ltd rises 2.7 pct to 2,721 after Mint reported that the company is in advanced talks with various Special Economic Zones (SEZs) authorities in Gujarat to buy land for a new factory that will cater only to its overseas customers.

12:50pm: The Sensex is currently trading higher by 210.94 points, or 0.90 pct, to 23,592.81, while the Nifty gains 65.20 points, or 0.92 pct, to 7,173.65.

12:40pm: Shares of IT security solutions provider Quick Heal Technologies Ltd opened 5 pct lower on its listing date but soon erased most of the losses and was trading marginally lower. The stock opened at 304.95 and touched a high and a low of 320.60 and 293.10 respectively. Shares are trading at 319.20 on BSE, down 0.6 pct, from its offer price.

12:30pm: Just Dail Ltd is trading higher in three out of four trading sessions. The stock hit an all time low of 378 a share on 12 February and since then it jumped 47.88 pct. Just Dial said in a notice to BSE that its buy-back offer of 1.06 million equity shares would open for subscription on 25 February, and close on 10 March. Shares are trading at 562.15 on BSE, up 6.9 pct, from previous close.

12:20pm: Healthcare companies are trading higher. Bliss GVS Pharma jumps 10 pct, Strides Shasun Ltd rises 6 pct, Glenmark Pharma 5.4 pct, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories 4.3 pct, Ipca Laboratories 4.2 pct, Suven Life Science Ltd 4 pct, Neuland Laboratories Ltd 3.3 pct, Fortis Laboratories Ltd 3.3 pct, Wockhardt Pharma 3.2 pct, Marksans Pharma 3 pct, Claris Lifesciences 3.2 pct.

12:10pm: RPP Infra Projects Ltd rises 4.3 pct to 113.10 after the company said in a notice to BSE that it got two orders from Engineering Projects India Ltd worth 58.50 crore.

12:00pm: Metal stocks are trading higher. Hindalco Industries Ltd rises 6 pct, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd 5.8 pct, Vedanta Ltd rises 3.6 pct, National Aluminum 3.1 pct, Steel Authority of India 3.1 pct, Tata Steel 1.5 pct. BSE Metal Index rises 2 pct to 6923.18 points.

11:50am: Indian stocks climbed for the third day this week. The Sensex is currently trading higher by 186.51 points, or 0.80 pct, to 23,568.38, while the Nifty gains 58.90 points, or 0.83 pct, to 7,167.35.

11:40am: Motherson Sumi System Ltd rises 1.4 pct to 226.25 after an Economic times report said that the company is in advanced talks with billionaire investor Wilbur Ross to buy one of his portfolio companies International Automotive Components (IAC) Group for $750-800 million. A win-win deal buyout is likely to help Indian auto component maker get access to the U.S. market and expand its customer base.

11:30am: Surya Roshni Ltd rises 5 pct to 134.60 after the company said it got orders worth 55.19 crore for supply of 9w LED bulbs and LED street lights for various states from Energy Efficiency Services Ltd.

11:20am: Sugar companies are trading higher. Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Ltd rises 7 pct to 15.35, Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd 2.5 pct to 83, Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd 5 pct to 11.68, Dhampur Sugar Mills Ltd 5.2 pct to 56.30, Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd 2.8 pct to 40.65.

11:10am: Cairn India jumps for the fifth consecutive trading sessions while Vedanta gained in four out of five trading sessions. Since 11 February to till date, Cairn India gained 14.3 pct while Vedanta gained 9.5 pct. Cairn India Ltd was trading at 132.50 on BSE, up 5.33 pct from previous close while Vedanta Ltd rose 2.7 pct to 76.40. According to CNBC TV report Vedanta’s founder and chairman Anil Agarwal has said that the Cairn-Vedanta merger will go through in 2-3 months. Earlier in November, he had said there is no need to sweeten the merger contours of the deal.

10:55am: Banking shares are trading higher on the back of higher volumes. Bank of Baroda rises 4.2 pct, ICICI Bank 3.2 pct, Central Bank of India 2.9 pct, Indain Bank 2.6 pct, Andhra Bank 2 pct, Bank of India 1.8 pct, Punjab National Bank 1.7 pct.

10:45am: The Sensex is now trading higher by 293.51 points, or 1.26 pct, to 23,675.38, while the Nifty gains 86.05 points, or 1.21pct, to 7,194.50.

10:35am: ICICI Bank Ltd rises 3.2pct to 196.70 after Mint reported that the bank plans to lend more to retail customers and go slow and be more prudent with corporate loans in an effort to reduce so-called “concentration risk”, or lending too much to one company, business group, or industry.

10:25am: Monsanto India Ltd falls 3 pct to 1,921.50 after PTI report said that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered a detailed probe against Monsanto as it found the global agricultural giant to be violating competition law in the market of Bt cotton technology in India. The move follows a complaint filed by the agriculture ministry and three Indian seed companies.

10:15am: Max India Ltd rises 5 pct to 361.40 after huge block deal. Around 26.57 million shares of 10 pct stake of the company changed hands in block deals. However, buyer and sellers name unknown, according to Bloomberg report. According to release, KKR has bought 10 pct stake in Max Financial Services. KKR acquired its stake from a sponsor group led by Analjit Singh, chairman emeritus of the Max Group.

10:05am: Jindal Steel and Power Ltd rises 4 pct to 59.35 after Financial Express report said that lenders to Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) are likely to refinance project loans to the steel maker’s loss-making subsidiaries Wollongong Coal mine (Australia) and Angul steel plant. They added the refinancing would be done in line with the 5/25 scheme outlined by Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which essentially eases the repayment schedule for the borrower. How much debt will be refinanced is not clear but JSPL’s gross debt stood at 45,500 crore at the end of March 2015, up 25 pct over March 2014.

9:50am: ABG Shipyard rises 15.2 pct to 52.25 after the company said it is in talks with a clutch of domestic and international investors for selling as much as 51 pct in the country’s largest shipbuilder. Syed Abdi, managing director and chief executive officer of ABG Shipyard, said the investors are either individual investors or a consortium of domestic and international investors.

9:40am: Indian equity-index futures gained as Asian stocks joined a global recovery and crude prices advanced. The 30-share S&P BSE Sensex gains 342.86 points, or 1.47 pct, to 23,724.73, while the Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gains 95.60 points, or 1.34 pct, to 7,204.05.

9:35am: The Indian rupee strengthens marginally against the U.S. dollar and is trading at 68.35, up 0.19 pct, from its previous close of 68.47, tracking gains in the global markets.

9:30am: The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 7.784 pct against Wednesday’s close of 7.789 pct.

9:25am: The dollar slips to ¥113.99 from ¥114.14. The euro rises to $1.1139 from $1.1124.

9:20am: Benchmark U.S. oil adds 55 cents to $31.21 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude rises 34 cents to $34.84 in London after jumping 7.2 pct the previous day.

9:10am: Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumps 2.3 pct to 16,191.90 and South Korea’s Kospi rises 0.9 pct to 1,900.89. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surges 2.2 pct to 19,330.37. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gains 1.9 pct to 4,976.30. Stocks in mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asian were also higher.

9:00am: Asian stocks mostly posted strong gains on Thursday as a rebound in the price of oil and solid U.S. manufacturing data boosted European and U.S. markets.

8:50am: On Wednesday, European stocks finished sharply higher and Wall Street extended its gains for a third day. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.6 pct to 16,453.83. The S&P 500 rose 1.7 pct to 1,926.82. The Nasdaq composite index jumped 2.2 pct to 4,534.06.

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Sensex Ends 190 Points Up, Nifty50 Settles At 7,108