BSE Sensex trades higher by over 250 points, while the Nifty 50 rises above 10,500. Here are the latest updates from markets

BSE Sensex rises over 250 points on Thursday against the previous session’s closing. The NSE Nifty also rose past 10,500 in morning hours. Both the benchmark indices closed lower for the seventh straight session on Wednesday. Government bond yields extended their recent losses after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained a neutral policy stance in its recent review, which assuaged concerns of a near-term rate hike. The rupee weakened for eight out of nine trading sessions against the US dollar. Traders will also keep an eye on key Consumer Price Index and Index of Industrial Production data for January and December, respectively, on 12 February. Here are the latest updates from markets:

BSE Sensex trades higher by 256.97 points, or 0.75%, to 34,339.68, while the Nifty 50 rises 77.95 points, or 0.74%, to 10,554.65.

Benchmark indices extended gains in morning driven by index heavyweights like Infosys, HDFC twins and Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 253.58 points or 0.74 percent at 34,336.29 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 71.60 points to 10,548.30.

The broader markets also participated in the rally, with the Nifty Midcap rising 0.77 percent. About four shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

9:26 am Buzzing: Gati fell 3 percent after net profit in Q3 slipped 26.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 4.8 crore and operating profit declined 21 percent to Rs 24.08 crore.

Operating profit margin contracted to 5.4 percent from 7.2 percent while revenue grew by 5.6 percent to Rs 448.5 crore versus Rs 424.8 crore YoY.

9:20 am Earnings: Aurobindo Pharma said its fiscal third-quarter profit rose 2.8 percent to Rs 595 crore, helped by higher sales of generic drugs in US and Europe markets.

The company posted a net profit of Rs 579 crore in the same period previous year. Total revenue rose 11.2 percent to Rs 4369.2 crore.

The company took a one-time charge of Rs 66.4 crore for the quarter due to US deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the new tax law which has resulted in reduction in federal corporate tax from 35 percent to 21 percent.

The EBITDA margin stood at 23.7 percent.

The net profit came in below the estimate of CNBC-TV18 analyst poll estimate of Rs 682 crore, while the revenues stood higher than Rs 4328.4 crore projection.

source: livemint.com