Market breadth was largely neutral with a positive bias

Domestic stock markets reversed early weakness to surge in afternoon trade on Tuesday. The S&P BSE Sensex index rose as much as 174.01 points to touch 38,205.14, and the NSE Nifty benchmark climbed to 11,397.10, up 50.9 points from the previous close. A spike in consumer goods, information technology and energy stocks supported the upmove in the markets however losses in pharma and state-run banking stocks kept the upside in check.

At 2:28 pm, the Sensex traded 85.45 points - or 0.22 per cent - higher at 38,116.58, while the Nifty was up 32.90 points - or 0.29 per cent - at 11,379.10.

Top percentage gainers on the 50-scrip index at the time were Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Power Grid, ITC, Tital and Asian Paints, trading between 1.63 per cent and 3.07 per cent higher.

ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys and ICICI Bank contributed the most to the advances in Sensex.

Market breadth was largely neutral with a positive bias, with 1,197 stocks trading with gains on the BSE and 1,135 struggling with losses. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 936 stocks advanced while 794 declined.

Shares in Kotak Mahindra Bank jumped 4 per cent on the back of high volumes, a day after the private sector lender reported strong earnings for the quarter ended June 30.

Analysts also awaited more earnings announcements from large cap companies.

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever and infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro were due to report their earnings for the three-month period later in the day.