The Sensex gained 96 points on the back of buying interest in pharma, banking and auto stocks.
The benchmark index opened on a positive note at 26,005 against the previous close of 25,991. It made a high of 26,113 and low of 25,850 before closing at 26,087. Turnover on the BSE was up at Rs 3,249 crore against Rs 2,463 crore recorded on Tuesday.
On the NSE, the Nifty was up 43 points at 7,791.
Among pharma stocks, Dr Reddy's Laboratories gained two per cent to Rs 2,822 after reporting 52 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 550 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal. The company’s revenue was up 24 per cent at Rs 3,520 crore.
Lupin and Cadila Healthcare scaled record high at Rs 1,192 and Rs 1,195 after declaring strong Q1 results. Ranbaxy Laboratories hit 52-week high in volatile trade.
Private sector bank stocks that gained include ICICI Bank (up 2.62%), IndusInd Bank (up 2%), HDFC Bank (up 1%), YES Bank (up 1%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 4%) and Axis Bank (up 2%).
L&T dipped seven per cent to Rs 1,524. The company's consolidated profit after tax more than doubled to Rs 967 crore on 10 per cent growth in gross revenue to Rs 19,123 crore in the June quarter. The sharp rise in PAT was on the back of divestment gains, L&T said. The company provided for all foreseeable future losses of five projects in the Middle East region during the quarter.
Major gainers for the day include CESC (6%), Ashok Leyland (6%), HDIL (5%), Bharti Airtel (5%), Indiabulls Real Estate (5%), Idea Cellular (5%) and Lupin (5%).
Prominent losers were Financial Tech (-5%), Pipavav Defence (-3%), Unitech (-3%) and Havells India (-3%).