Benchmark equity indices traded firmly higher in Wednesday’s afternoon session, defying weakness across global markets, led by strong buying in FMCG and private banking stocks.

Sensex and Nifty rise at noon, boosted by bank stocks following RBI's forex swap announcement and positive global cues.

The BSE Sensex settled 394.50 points or 0.54% higher at 73,918.76 after touching an intraday high of 74,035.41 and Nifty 50 gained 119.10 points or 0.52% to close at 23,242.10