The market remains well placed in positive territory in late afternoon trades, and with the mood staying fairly bullish, the indices are headed for a bright close today.
Though global cues are weak, strong data on manufacturing and services sector activity in March and report showing India's business confidence to have hit an all-time high in the first quarter, are driving stock prices up.
Also, with the GST roll out to happen in July and other reforms expected to gather momentum, investors are picking up stocks from across several sectors.
The Sensex is up 223.23 points or 0.75% at 29,798.97. The Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange is up 55.50 points or 0.6% at 9236.95.
Bank, FMCG, capital goods and realty stocks are up with strong gains. Select stocks from consumer durables and power sectors are notably higher. IT and telecom stocks are also having a good outing. Oil, automobile and healthcare stocks are mixed.
ITC is trading higher by 3.1%. Power Grid Corporation, ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, BPCL, Eicher Motors and Bharti Airtel are up 1.3% - 2%.
