Key indices firmed up once again in afternoon trade. The Nifty was trading a tad above 11900-mark. At 13:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 219.95 points or 0.56% at 39,812.03. The Nifty 50 index was up 61.55 points or 0.52% at 11,909.10

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.32%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.68%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1385 shares rose and 955 shares fell. A total of 159 shares were unchanged.

Indiabulls Housing Finance (up 3.50%), Tata Motors (up 3.10%), Eicher Motors (up 2.52%), Grasim Industries (up 1.76%) and Hero MotoCorp (up 1.41%) advanced.

Tech Mahindra (down 3.29%), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (down 2.19%), UPL (down 1.71%), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 1.14%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.03%) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 0.83%) declined.

Bharti Infratel was up 1.90%. A foreign investment brokerage firm has reportedly resumed its coverage with overweight rating on the stock, citing stability in tenancy.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was up 2.39%. The company has received permission for the voluntary liquidation of Mahindra International UK (MIUL), a subsidiary. Post liquidation, MIUL has ceased to be a subsidiary of the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 26 June 2019.

Most fertilizer stocks advanced. Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals (up 2.25%), Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (up 1.67%), National Fertilizers (up 1.48%), Zuari Global (up 0.90%), Tata Chemicals (up 0.59%), Fertilizers & Chemicals Travancore (up 0.51%) and Nagarjuna Fertilisers and Chemicals (up 0.20%) advanced. Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (down 0.27%), Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation (down 0.12%) and Coromandel International (down 0.10%) declined.

Most sugar stocks rose. KCP Sugar & Industries Corporation (up 7.27%), Simbhaoli Sugars (up 6.62%), Triveni Engineering & Industries (up 6.37%), Sakthi Sugars (up 4.31%), Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar (up 4.16%), Balrampur Chini Mills (up 4.13%), Dhampur Sugar Mills (up 3.73%), EID Parry (India) (up 3.17%), Shree Renuka Sugar (up 2.79%), Dwarikesh Sugar Industries (up 2.33%) and Rana Sugars (up 2.18%) edged higher. Empee Sugars and Chemicals (down 4.71%) and DCM Shriram Industries (down 0.70%) edged lower.

Overseas, shares in Europe and Asia were trading higher ahead of the highly anticipated G20 meeting.

US stocks closed mostly lower Wednesday, as investors grew increasingly skeptical that a U.S.-China trade deal is in the offing, though technology shares were supported by optimism related to Micron Technology's better-than expected guidance.