The Sensex and the Nifty hit fresh intraday high in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 301.41 points or 0.77% at 39,424.53. The Nifty 50 index was up 81 points or 0.69% at 11,780.65.

After opening lower, the indices recovered in morning trade and were hovering near flat line in mid-morning trade. Benchmarks gained momentum in early afternoon trade and hit fresh intraday high in mid-afternoon trade.

The broader market bounced back. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.51%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.27%.

The breadth was still negative. On BSE, 1037 shares rose and 1165 shares fell. A total of 139 shares were unchanged.

PSU stocks were in demand. MTNL (up 3.76%), REC (up 3.12%), NTPC (up 2.77%), BPCL (up 2.73%), BEML (up 2.66%), Steel Authority of India (up 2.54%), HPCL (up 2.24%), Power Finance Corporation of India (up 2.24%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 1.41%), Power Grid Corporation (up 1.31%), National Mineral Development Corporation (up 1.05%), GAIL (India) (up 0.68%), ONGC (up 0.67%) and Coal India (up 0.62%) advanced.

Titan Company was up 1.19% at Rs 1,314.8. It hit a 52-week high of Rs 1,317.75 in intraday today.

HDFC Asset Management Company was up 1.39% at Rs 1959. It hit a record high of Rs 1,971 in intraday today.

Voltas was up 3.33% at Rs 653.15. It hit a 52-week high of Rs 654.30 in intraday today.

Most PSU Banks surged. Syndicate Bank (up 3.28%), Oriental Bank of Commerce (up 2.61%), Allahabad Bank (up 2.94%), Union Bank of India (up 0.40%), Punjab National Bank (up 0.33%), Bank of India (up 0.41%), Bank of Baroda (up 1.31%), State Bank of India (up 0.44%) edged higher.

The Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Lok Sabha that as per RBI data on global operations (provisional data for the financial year ending March 2019), gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks (PSBs) have declined from the peak of Rs 895601 crore in March 2018 to Rs 806412 crore in March 2019 (provisional data). PSBs have recovered Rs 359496 crore over the last four financial years, including record recovery of Rs 123156 crore during 2018-19. Figures for PSBs include those for IDBI Bank, which was recategorised as a private sector bank by RBI with effect from 21 March 2019.

FMCG stocks were mixed. Bajaj Consumer Care (up 2.34%), Marico (up 1.02%), Britannia Industries (up 0.97%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 0.36%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 0.36%) and Dabur India (up 0.14%) edged higher. Jyothy Laboratories (down 1.97%), Hindustan Unilever (down 0.47%), Tata Global Beverages (down 0.35%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (down 0.07%), Nestle India (down 0.06%) and GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare (down 0.02%) edged lower.

Auto stocks were mixed. TVS Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.09%), Mahindra and Mahindra (up 0.83%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.23%) and Eicher Motors (up 0.21%) edged higher. Motor Company (down 2.62%), Escorts (down 2.09%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.84%) and Ashok Leyland (down 0.12%) edged lower.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.88% at 14:15 IST compared with 6.851% at close in the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2019 settlement were up 0.95% at Rs 34,7658. Domestic gold prices mirrored firmness in US gold prices amid softening of dollar to a multi-month low on hopes of quantitative easing by the US Federal Reserve.