The key equity barometers marched higher and hit a fresh intraday high in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded a tad above the 17,700 level after hitting the day's low of 17,612.50 in early afternoon trade. Bank shares witnessed buying demand.

At 14:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 319.04 points or 0.53% to 59,974.10. The Nifty 50 index added 85.35 points or 0.48% to 17,709.40.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.39% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.41%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,837 shares rose and 1,696 shares fell. A total of 172 shares were unchanged.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper declined 0.75% to 7.131 from 7.185 recorded in the previous session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 81.95, compared with its close of 82.0650 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 June 2023 settlement added 0.03% to Rs 59,863.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.06% to 101.76.

The United States 10-year bond yield declined 0.97% to 3.537.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2023 settlement fell 8 cents or 0.10% to $81.58 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index advanced 1.34% to 42,683.20. The index declined 0.36% in past trading session.

IDFC First Bank (up 3.28%), Bank of Baroda (up 2.21%), ICICI Bank (up 2.08%), Punjab National Bank (up 2.07%) and State Bank of India (up 1.94%), Axis Bank (up 1.73%), Federal Bank (up 1.07%), IndusInd Bank (up 0.82%), HDFC Bank (up 0.73%) and Bandhan Bank (up 0.63%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Dalmia Bharat added 0.18% after the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) (DCBL) has commenced production at its second cement line at Bokaro, Jharkhand Cement Works (JCW2), with capacity of 2.5 million tonnes.

JM Financial rose 0.15% after the firm announced that its subsidiary JM Financial Home Loans and and Indostar Capital Finance are exploring potential strategic options for their home finance and retail mortgage portfolios.

Gujarat Pipavav Port rallied 3.02% after the company said that its board has approved the capital expenditure for setting up a new liquid berth at Pipavav Port at an estimated cost of about $90 million.