At 13:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 345.49 points or 0.59% to 59,307.61. The Nifty 50 index added 117.50 points or 0.68% to 17,421.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.09% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.24%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,373 shares rose and 1020 shares fell. A total of 129 shares were unchanged.

Adani Enterprises (up 11.46%), Hindalco Industries (up 3.27%), Axis bank (up 2.44 %), Tech Mahindra (up 2.29%) and State Bank of India (up 1.89%) were major Nifty gainers.

Britannia (down 2.08%), PowerGrid Corporation of India (down 2%), Cipla (down 0.87%), SBI Life (down 0.67%) and Hindustan Unilever (down 0.23%) were top Nifty losers.

Economy:

India's GDP or gross domestic product slowed to 4.4 per cent in the October-December quarter 2022, primarily due to a 1.1 per cent contraction in manufacturing, along with weaker private consumption demand and government expenditure, according to the second advance estimates released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Tuesday.

For the full financial year 2022-23, the National Statistics Office (NSO) has retained the growth estimate at 7 per cent in the second advance estimates. According to the first advance estimates released last month, the GDP growth was pegged at 7 per cent for 2022-23. In financial year 2021-2022, India's economy grew at 8.7 per cent.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was at 55.3 in February, little-changed from 55.4 in January and signaling a strong improvement in the health of the sector. The headline figure was also above its long-run average of 53.7.

India's core sector output, comprising eight sectors including coal and electricity accounting for nearly 40 per cent of industrial output, jumped 7.8 per cent in January 2023, the official data showed yesterday. The production of fertilizers, coal, electricity, steel, natural gas, cement and refinery products increased in January 2023 over the corresponding month of last year.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Maruti Suzuki advanced 1.20% after the car major said that its total sales rose 5.04% to 172,321 units in February 2023 as compared with 164,056 units in February 2022.

Escorts Kubota fell 0.43%. The company said that its Agri Machinery business in February 2023 sold 7,811 tractors, registering a growth of 27.8% as against 6,114 tractors sold in February 2022. Domestic tractor sales in February 2023 were at 7,245 tractors registering a growth of 27.4 percent as against 5,686 tractors sold in February 2022.

Bajaj Auto added 1.81%. The two wheeler maker's total sales declined 11% to 2,80,226 units in February 2023 compared with 3,16,020 units sold in February 2022. Total domestic sales surged 36% to 1,53,291 units, while exports tumbled 38% to 1,26,935 units in February 2023 over February 2022.

Power Grid Corporation of India declined 2% after the company announced that it has been declared as the successful bidder under tariff based competitive bidding (TBCB) for establishing an inter-state transmission system in the state of Gujarat.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced across the board as investors digested a slew of key economic data across the region.

China's factory activity in February showed further growth. China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 52.6 in February, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. That's compared to January's reading of 50.1. Non-manufacturing PMI rose to 56.3, above January's reading of 54.4, the highest level since June 2022.

Japan's factory activity slowed at the fastest pace in two and a half years in February, private surveys by au Jibun Bank showed. The manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 47.7, down from 48.9 in January.

Australia's economy grew 2.7% for the whole of 2022, in line with economists expectations, but lower than 2021′s figure of 5.9%.

US stocks fell on Tuesday, as more evidence of stubborn inflation added to expectations that central banks will keep rates high.