Indian equity markets erased marginal gains on Wednesday afternoon. The broader trade sentiment remained cautious as investors watch September quarter earnings for companies after the government's corporate tax cut, amid a rise in inflation and hopes of further rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of India. At 12.38 pm, the Sensex traded 96 points higher, or 0.25 percent, at 38,603 while the Nifty50 added 35 points, or 0.31 percent, to trade at 11,463. Among sectors, bank, IT, finance, pharma and IT advanced, while FMCG, auto, metal, capital goods and consumer durables declined. Among shares, ZEEL, BPCL, Grasim, Bajaj Finance and Wipro were top gainers, while Hindalco, Vedanta, Hero MotoCorp, Adani Ports and Power Grid were top laggards.

The stock price of ACC surged 4 percent intraday on Wednesday after the company reported robust earnings in the second quarter of the current financial year. At 12:45 pm, the share price of the stock was up 1.60 percent at Rs 1,522 per share on the NSE. Intraday, the stock surged 4.13 percent to Rs 1,560.

Global brokerages remained mixed on ACC post-earnings. HSBC Research upgraded the stock to buy from hold and raised the target price to Rs 1,690 from Rs 1,660 earlier. While Citi Group slashed the target price to Rs 2,150 from Rs 2,175. 

The cement manufacturer reported a 45 percent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 302.56 crore for the third quarter, meanwhile, net sales stood at Rs 3,464.43 crore as against Rs 3,363.93 crore in the year-ago. 

SBI Life Insurance's shares hit record-time high on Wednesday after brokerages maintained buy call on the stock post Q2 earnings. At 12:09 am, the stock price was trading higher by 3.93 percent to Rs 871 per share on the NSE. In intraday, the shares rose 4.77 percent to Rs 878. 

The company in its Q2 earnings reported improved results, with net premium income surging 32 percent YoY to Rs 10,111 crores. Net commissions grew 28 percent YoY to Rs 408 crores as against Rs 319 crores last year. Net profit declined 48 percent YoY to Rs 129 crores due to high tax provisions. 

Emkay maintained buy on the stock with a target price of Rs 991. The brokerage said, "SBI Life reported in-line results with strong gross written premium (GWP) and annual premium equivalent (APE) growth of 33.3 percent YoY and 17.5 percent YoY, respectively, in Q2FY20, led by focus on protection, annuity and individual non-par savings business."

Prabhudas Lilladher also maintained buy rating on the stock with a target price at Rs 991 led by strong growth contribution non-par savings like annuity, guaranteed and individual protection, and consistent improvement in the margin at a pace of 80-90 bps each quarter.

The share price of Multicommodity Exchange of India (MCX) gained 9 percent on Wednesday on robust Q2 results. The sentiment was also bullish after global brokerage Morgan Stanley raised the stock's target price and said that it expects the stock price of the company to double in 3 years.

The stock rose as much as 8.9 percent to its 52-week high of Rs 1107.70 per share on BSE. At 10:05 am, the stock was trading 5 percent higher at Rs 1,069 as compared to a 0.2 percent or 80 points rise in BSE Sensex at 38,586.

The company on Tuesday reported over two-fold jump in net profit at Rs 71.75 crore for Q2 versus Rs 35.93 crore in the year-ago period. Its total income increased 55 percent to Rs 144.53 crore in Q2 from Rs 93.27 crore in the same period last year.

The brokerage raised its target price for the stock to Rs 1,365 per share from Rs 1,260 earlier on higher fee realization and lower operating costs. The brokerage maintained its 'overweight' rating.

The public interest litigation (PIL) raises a red flag on the PMC Bank issue and seeks an urgent hearing from the Supreme Court. The PIL also seeks the protection of saving for 15 lakh depositors. The Supreme Court agrees to hear the PIL on October 18.

US FDA completes the inspection of Indoco Remedies’ Goa (Plant II) with 2 observations. The company says neither of these is related to data integrity or the core quality management system. The site continues to maintain its VAI status. At 11:07 am, the share price was trading 3.36 percent to Rs 146 per share on the NSE. Intraday, the shares rallied 12 percent to Rs 158.20.

The share price of Bajaj Consumer hit upper circuit on Wednesday after the company’s promoter offloaded their stake in the company. The promoter of the company, Bajaj Resources offloaded about 22 percent of their stake (worth Rs 628 crore) through an open market.

At 10:22 am, the stock price was trading at Rs 239.95, up 17.82 percent on the NSE. In Intraday, the share price rose 18.68 percent at Rs 241.70.

As per the exchanges data, Bajaj Resources sold 3,22,65,100 shares at an average price of Rs 194.56.

Meanwhile, Macquarie has maintained an ‘outperform’ call on the stock with a target price of Rs 592 per share. The brokerage in its report said, “The repayment of promoter’s personal debt will largely remove the pledge. The sales proceeds will be utilized for the repayment of the promoter’s personal debt. The majority of promoter’s pledge will come down after this stake sale.”

BPCL's stock price rallied 5.53 percent intraday on Wednesday after reports suggested that Saudi Aramco is interested in buying the government's 53.3 percent stake in the company. The strategic sale of BPCL could take place at Rs 510-1,000 a share, as per the reports. The stock remained the top Nifty gainer in the early morning session.

The share price of Inox Wind jumped 13.29 percent intraday on Wednesday after the company signed an additional deal with Adani Green Energy. The company in its press release said that it has closed the deal for a sale of 50 MW wind project in Kutch in which Adani will be a strategic investor.