The Sensex and the Nifty were trading higher after hitting fresh intraday high in afternoon trade. At 13:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was 196.34 points or 0.50% at 39,309.08. The Nifty 50 index was 49.45 points or 0.42% at 11,740.90. Firm global stocks boosted sentiment in the domestic market.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.40%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.19%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was almost even. On BSE, 1136 shares rose and 1172 shares fell. A total of 128 shares were unchanged.

Yes Bank (up 5.38%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 3.81%), Grasim Industries (up 2.61%) and JSW Steel (2.59%). Cipla (up 2.37%), advanced.

Wipro (down 2.55%), Adani Ports And Special Economic Zone (down 2.16%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.54%) and Axis Bank (down 1.09%), declined.

UPL was down 9.78% to Rs 857.55. The stock hit an intraday high of Rs 947.55 and an intraday low of Rs 833.65. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 537.90 on 19 July 2018 and a 52-week high of Rs 1045 on 12 June 2019.

Indiabulls Housing Finance was up 6.46% to Rs 591.30. According to media reports, the company will buyback all non-convertible debentures (NCDs) maturing in July and August totalling Rs 2,285 crore. The company's managing director and CEO, Gagan Banga, was quoted by the media as saying the company's liquidity situation continues to be very strong as it raised around Rs 58,000 crore since September 2018 and has a cash buffer of Rs 28,000 crore.

IndusInd Bank was up 2.62% to Rs 1419.20. Bharat Financial Inclusion was up 3.57%. The boards of IndusInd Bank and Bharat Financial Inclusion fixed 4 July 2019 as the record date for merger between IndusInd Bank and Bharat Financial Inclusion.

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) rose 1.25% to Rs 2205.50. HDFC said it has entered into agreements for acquiring up to 51.2% of the equity share capital of Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company for a total consideration of Rs 1346.84 crore. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 June 2019.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise rose 1.71% to Rs 1368. The company said that the board of directors of the company approved the sale of the entire 9.96% equity stake held by the company in Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company, an unlisted public limited company for a total consideration of around Rs 300 crore. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 June 2019.

ONGC was up 1.46% to Rs 169.80. The company said that its wholly-owned subsidiary, ONGC Videsh, along with its joint venture partners of Mozambique Rovuma Offshore Area 1, announced final investment decision (FID) for initial two LNG train project development. The FID signifies that the Golfinho/Atum Mozambique LNG project will now advance to the construction phase.

Overseas, European stocks were trading higher. Asian stocks continued on their upward trajectory on Thursday. Investors globally were rejoiced after the US Federal Reserve spurred hopes of a rate cut as soon as July, even though it left interest rates unchanged. The Fed news came in after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said in his latest speech said that the European Central Bank could cut interest rates again or provide further asset purchases, if inflation does not reach its target.

Meanwhile, on the US-China trade front, hopes in Beijing appear to have risen for a trade deal between the two economic powerhouses. US President Donald Trump and Chinese Xi Jinping are reportedly set to meet at the upcoming G-20 summit in Japan, which will happen next week.

US stocks closed higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged as widely expected but dropped the reference to patient in its statement to indicate it is ready to make ease monetary policy if needed.

The Fed said it will closely monitor the economy given increasing uncertainty about government policy though it signaled it may not need to lower rates before 2020. The central bank remained mostly optimistic about the economic outlook, but said inflationary pressures have receded, compelling it to lower its forecast for PCE inflation in 2019 to 1.5% from 1.8%, below its 2% target. At the same time, it left its gross domestic product estimate at 2.1%.

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