The domestic equity benchmarks firmed up once again in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 269.36 points or 0.53% to 50,674.68. The Nifty 50 index rose 89.55 points or 0.60% to 15,027.65.

The broader market was trading higher. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index advanced 0.48%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.03%.

Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1782 shares rose and 1258 shares fell. A total of 218 shares were unchanged.

Numbers to Track:

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2021 settlement rose 49 cents to $69.85 a barrel. The contract gained 3.92% or $2.62 to settle at $69.36 a barrel in the previous session.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.218% as compared to its previous close of 6.232%.

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee fell to 73.19, compared with its previous closing of 73.02.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2021 settlement fell 0.50% to Rs 44,458.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.33% to 91.942.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 1.16% to 3,914.45. The index had declined by 4.66% in the past two sessions.

NMDC (up 4.14%), Welspun Corp (up 3.97%), APL Apollo Tubes (up 2.73%), National Aluminum Co. (up 2.68%), SAIL (up 2.43%), Hindustan Copper (up 2.39%), Coal India (up 1.89%), Tata Steel (up 1.32%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.27%), Mishra Dhatu Nigam (up 0.90%), JSW Steel (up 0.82%) and MOIL (up 0.69%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Happiest Minds Technologies (HMTL) rose 0.52% to currently trade at Rs 538.65. India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) had upgraded the company's long-term issuer rating to 'IND A-' from 'IND BBB+' and maintained 'positive' outlook on the same. The upgrade reflects a substantial increase in HMTL's operating EBITDA margins in 9MFY21, coupled with a healthy cash flow from operations and initial public offering (IPO) proceeds, leading to a significant improvement in the credit metrics and liquidity position.

SBI Cards and Payment Services rose 1.2% to Rs 1071.15. The company's board will meet on 12 March 2021, to consider raising funds by issuing Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs), aggregating to Rs 2,000 crore in one or more tranches over a period of time.