The key benchmark indices came off the day's high in mid-afternoon trade. At 2.25 pm, the BSE Sensex, was up 294.65 points or 0.59 percent to 49,956.41. The Nifty 50 index rallied 118.40 points or 0.80 percent at 14,937.45. Pharma shares extended their wining streak for third day.

Cipla, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma, Titan and Dr Reddy are the top gainers while Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, UPL, Hindalco and Ultra Cements are among top losers at the time of this note.

The broader market rallied. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.91 percent. The BSE Small-Cap index added 1.05 percent. Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1897 shares rose and 949 shares fell. A total of 162 shares were unchanged.

Investors risk appetite improved after the minutes of last month's meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve suggested that Fed officials were united on the need to see more progress on economic recovery before scaling back their bond-buying program.

Domestic sentiment also received a boost after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday kept its monetary policy accommodative to support economic growth.

Direct Tax collection surpasses at Rs 9.45L cr in FY21, beat revised estimates

Siemens signs MoU with Hinduja Group for electric vehicles charging infrastructure

Infosys to offer Business Process Management Services To ArcelorMittal