Sensex up 100 points, Nifty below 9,150 ahead of the March F&O expiry

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and S&P BSE Smallcap indices hit a new lifetime high

In a volatile trading session, the benchmark indices on Thursday were trading higher  ahead of the expiration of March futures & options later in the day.

The sentiment was positive after the government moved a step closer to implementing a nationwide goods and services tax (GST) from July. 

At 2:27 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 29,664, up 133 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,167, up 24 points. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and S&P BSE Smallcap indices hit their new lifetime highs by rising 0.5% to 14,002, and 0.8% to 14,315, respectively. 

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, depicted strength. There were more than two gainers against every loser on BSE. 1,683 shares rose and 765 shares fell. A total of 190 shares were unchanged.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) was the top gainer on Sensex and surged over 5% to hit its fresh 52-week high of Rs 336 on the BSE. 

Axis Bank fell over 1% to Rs 498 after the company announced it has tied up with Wells Fargo to offer real time remittances from the Indian diaspora to their relatives back home.

Under the arrangement between the two banks, any member of the Indian diaspora holding an account with Wells Fargo will be able to transfer money to their relatives back home and there will be no transaction fee applicable to the money transfers from USA. But the relative or the beneficiary in India will need to have an Axis Bank account.

RIL gained nearly 1% after it said that they has completed sale of its entire 76% interest in its East African company GAPCO to Total SA of France for an undisclosed sum. 

Logistics shares were trading higher after the passage of the GST bills. Allcargo Logistics rose as much as 4.4% while VRL Logistics shot up as much as 4.3% and GATI gained as much as 2.5%.

Meanwhile, auto stocks including Hero MotoCorp and Ashok Leyland recovered from steep losses after the country's top court banned sale of new vehicles with older Euro III fuel technology from April 1.

Two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp rose as much as 1.4% while Ashok Leyland rose as much as 1.2%.

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading lower despite a positive lead from Wall Street as investors reassessed the outlook for monetary policy at the European Central Bank.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2%, stepping back from morning trade when it nudged close its loftiest levels since June 2015.

Australian shares firmed 0.4%, helped by an overnight gain in oil prices. China stocks were headed for a fourth day of losses. The CSI300 index was down 1.0%, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.2%. 

(With inputs from Reuters)