At the stock markets, paring its early gains, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange gained 26 points, or 0.1 percent, to trade at 48,107, in the afternoon session, a short while ago. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange rose 6 points, to 14,412.

But the broader market outperformed the Sensex, with the BSE Midcap index advancing 0.8 percent and the Smallcap index climbing 1.1 percent, in intra-day trade.