After seeing some erosion of morning gains, the market held steady even as inflation data came in higher. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for February was 6.55 percent against 5.25 percent, month on month (MoM).

At 12.03 hrs IST, The Sensex was up 476.78 points at 29423.01, while the Nifty was up 142.85 points at 9077.40.

The market breadth was healthy as 1,741 shares had advanced, 816 shares declined, while 160 shares were unchanged.

ICICI Bank and Larsen & Toubro continued to be top gainers on both the indices, while Coal India and Bharti Airtel were the top losers.

Diamond Power Infrastructure today said its lenders have in principally agreed to a proposal from CKP Group to infuse Rs 1,200 crore under Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) scheme. Shares of the company were trading 4.95 percent higher at Rs 42.40 on BSE.

Ramco Systems today said it has bagged an order from New Zealand-based Ravensdown Aerowork to automate and unify the maintenance and overhaul operations of its fleet. Shares of Ramco Systems were trading at Rs 358, up 2.59 percent on BSE.