Markets erased morning gains due to losses in RIL, L&T, HDFC Bank, and Airtel. These stocks pulled down the headline indices, the most in terms of their contribution to the respective indices.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said a rate hike was unlikely, but reiterated that a rate cut would be considered only if inflation in the economy eased further.

Nifty Auto rose 1.8%, led by M&M, Exide Industries, and Apollo Tyres. Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and Maruti Suzuki jumped between 0.9% and 2.1%.

Highest-weighted banking stocks on Nifty traded with strong momentum. ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank and Kotak Bank were four of the top contributors today. Nifty Bank hit a fresh lifetime high today rising 1200 pts

Tech Mahindra, Divi's Labs, LTIMindtree, Bajaj Auto were the top gainers of the day. Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank and Nestle India were the top losers.

Axis Bank was the top contributor in the surge as it jumped over 6% intraday post strong Q4 earnings. Other top contributors were ICICI Bank and SBI. The Nifty Bank index shot up by over 300 points at the closing.

From the Sensex pack, JSW Steel and Tata Steel were the top gainers, and rose 4% and 2.7%, respectively. Power Grid, Kotak Bank, UltraTech Cement, NTPC, and Bajaj Finance also ended with gains, while TCS, Tech Mahindra, Maruti, and Infosys closed with cuts.

Bharti Airtel, ITC, Infosys, SBI, Maruti, and Tata Motors were the top contributors to the Sensex. However, Reliance, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, and M&M put downward pressure on the index. RIL alone dragged the indices down by 127 points.

Infosys, HCL Tech, and TCS closed 0.6% to 1.2% lower, due to this IT index also fell 0.4% decline. Infosys forecasted annual revenue below expectations after falling short of March-quarter revenue estimates.

From the Sensex stocks, Nestle India, Titan, Axis Bank, NTPC, and Tata Motors were the top laggards, falling 2-3%. ITC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Bajaj Finserv also declined. Infosys, L&T, and Airtel were the gainers.