NEW DELHI: Raj Rayon (up 20 per cent), Shree Rama News (up 20 per cent), Esab India (up 20 per cent), 8K Miles Soft (up 19.99 per cent), Natco Pharma (up 19.99 per cent), The Grob Tea Company (up 19.99 per cent) and Nagreeka Export (up 19.97 per cent) surged up to 20 per cent in Wednesday's trade, reflecting bullish market sentiment.

The equity benchmarks were in the green during the afternoon session on Wednesday, with gains in Sun Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma, ITC, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharti Infratel, each gaining over 2 per cent in the Nifty index.

Benchmark Nifty50 index was 60 points up at 9,920, while the 30-share Sensex was 205 points up at 31,702 around 1.30 pm (IST).

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Nearly 30 stocks hit fresh 52-week highs that included Adani Transmission, Avanti Feeds, GAIL (India), Gillette India, Goa Carbon and Phillips Carbon Black.

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Pharma rose by 2 per cent, followed by FMCG, realty and auto indices.

Bank stocks such as Kotak Mahindra Bank, YES Bank, Punjab National Bank, IndusInd Bank and State Bank of India were gaining ahead of the monetary policy outcome of the Reserve Bank of India.

The Nifty Metal index slipped into the negative zone as losses in Nalco, JSW Steel, Coal India, Hindalco and Tata Steel weighed on.

On the NSE, 1036 stocks were advancing, compared with 572 stocks declining and 356 stocks remaining unchanged.