Indian benchmarks continued to trade in positive terrain during the noon trading session on Wednesday amid profit booking and a rise in crude oil prices following reports that the US may extend its blockade of Iranian ports.

On the corporate front, Coal India hit a 52-week high of ₹485.60, as it rallied 4 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday’s intra-day trade. Shares of restaurant franchise operator Sapphire Foods rallied around 15 per cent to hit a high of ₹201.86 on the National Stock Exchange. While shares of Swiggy fell 3 per cent to ₹272.50 on the BSE in the intraday trade.

At 14:45 hours, the 30-share benchmark index was trading at 77623.97 up by 737.06 points or by 0.96 % and then NSE Nifty was at 24207.75 up by 212.05 points or by 0.88 %.

Sensex touched intraday high of 77982.51 and intraday low of 77136.2 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 24334.7 and intraday low of 24059.95.

The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were ITC Ltd. (Rs. 316.70,+4.02%), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Rs. 1461.00,+3.68%), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (Rs. 13277.70,+2.99%), Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Rs. 1888.20,+2.32%), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Rs. 3152.20,+2.08%), among others.

The top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. (Rs. 4346.80,-2.21%), NTPC Ltd. (Rs. 401.90,-1.14%), Bajaj Finserv Ltd. (Rs. 1765.65,-0.78%), ICICI Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1283.30,-0.65%), Asian Paints Ltd. (Rs. 2448.40,-0.58%), among others.

Among the sectors, FMCG index was at 19135.86 up by 325.69 points or by 1.73%. Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. (Rs. 2281.60,+7.83%), India Glycols Ltd. (Rs. 1017.20,+5.86%), ITC Ltd. (Rs. 316.70,+4.02%), Cupid Ltd. (Rs. 115.55,+3.60%), Lotus Chocolate Company Ltd. (Rs. 770.05,+3.47%),.

Whereas, Power index was at 8191.75 down by -71.82 points or by -0.87%. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (Rs. 344.05,-3.08%), JSW Energy Ltd. (Rs. 563.65,-2.95%), Torrent Power Ltd. (Rs. 1710.30,-2.33%), Tata Power Company Ltd. (Rs. 452.50,-1.96%), Adani Power Ltd. (Rs. 220.40,-1.41%),.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 4601 , shares advanced were 2219 while 2184 shares declined and 198 were unchanged.