Market Live: Sensex gains over 150 pts, Nifty firmly above 9900 ahead of RBI meet.

12:40 pm Gold update: Gold prices were higher by Rs 61 to Rs 29,416 per 10 gram in futures trade as speculators widened their bets taking positive cues from the global market.

At Multi Commodity Exchange, gold for delivery in October was up by Rs 61 or 0.21 percent to Rs 29,416 per 10 gram in business turnover of 28 lots.

The metal for delivery in far-month December also moved up by Rs 44 or 0.15 percent to Rs 29,553 per 10 gram in a turnover of 516 lots.

12:20 pm Market Check: Investors continued buying activity hours before the RBI’s monetary policy committee (MPC) announces its decision on key interest rates.

The Sensex was up 185.09 points at 31682.47, while the Nifty was up 59.50 points at 9919.00. The market breadth was positive as 1,449 shares advanced against a delcine of 887 shares, while 97 shares were unchanged.

Sun Pharmaceuticals, ITC and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories gained the most on both indices, while Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and Coal India lost the most.

11:59 am Rate expectations: The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy committee is set to announce its decision later today. A CNBC-TV18 poll shows that the RBI may hold the repo rate at 6 percent.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Deepali Bhargava, Economist at Credit Suisse spoke at length about the same. Not expecting any rate cut today, said Bhargava.

She further said that it will be important to see what RBI says about the growth of the economy.

11:35 am Market Outlook: The Centre has cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre and now CNBC-TV18 learns that states have also been asked to review the value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel.

In an interview, Harshvardhan Dole, Vice President-Institutional Equities, IIFL shared his readings and outlook on the same.

The government has taken a very proactive step and in a way they have supported their own reforms agenda in a big way, he said.

We like all the three oil marketing companies (OMCs), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and among the three HPCL is our top pick, he added.

11:20 am Full fledged internet telephony soon? Shortly after cutting local mobile-to-mobile termination charges to 6 paise per minute from 14 paise, the telecom regulator is set to shake up the market further.

This time, the impact could be wider and deeper as the regulator gets ready to issue recommendations on allowing full-fledged Internet telephony in the country. Internet telephony exists in India but in a very limited manner.

“TRAI should be issuing the recommendations in two to three weeks. The framework for Internet telephony (interconnect charges) will be same as that of regular mobile and landline calls,” an official familiar with the development said.

11:00 am Market Check: Benchmark indices are trading higher ahead of outcome from Reserve Bank of India’s policy meet later in the day.

The Sensex was up 139.33 points at 31636.71, and the Nifty was up 46.05 points at 9905.55. About 1428 shares have advanced, 747 shares declined, and 95 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy’s Labs, ITC, Aurobindo Pharma, Indiabulls Housing and Power Grid Corp are the top gainers on the indices, while top losers include Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Coal India, Tata Steel and TCS.

10:55 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of Greaves Cotton rose 4.6 percent intraday Wednesday as it has entered into strategic partnership with Altigreen Propulsion Labs.

The partnership aims to provide a range of clean energy powertrain solutions for 3-wheeler and micro 4-wheeler commercial vehicles.

10:48 am Market Outlook: The excise duty cut by the government might come as a good news for consumers, but it is seen as more of a political alignment, HDFC Securities Research Head Dipen Sheth said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

The government on Tuesday reduced the basic excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre. The finance ministry said that the decision was taken in a bid to cushion the impact of the rise in global crude oil prices and to protect the interests of the common man.

“The excise duty cut should be taken by the government positively by the markets but if you ask me personally – I am not in favour of the cut. The government should have been more hawkish in its diffidence in passing on price cuts,” said Sheth.

10:35 am RBI MPC meet outcome: Here’s what bankers have to say about the likely announcements from the central bank