Mumbai, Aug 23 (IANS): Positive global cues pushed the key Indian equity indices -- the NSE Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex -- higher during mid-afternoon trade session on Wednesday.

According to market observers, healthy buying in pharma, banking and IT sector stocks supported equity indices' upward trajectory.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened higher on Wednesday against their respective previous session's close. The Indian rupee also opened on a strong note against the US dollar.

At 1.00 p.m., the 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) gained 147 points or 0.47 per cent.

The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded higher by 39.85 points or 0.41 per cent at 9,805.40 points.

The Sensex of the BSE, which opened at 31,407.47 points, traded at 31,439.23 points (at 1.00 p.m.), up 147.38 points or 0.47 per cent from Friday's close at 31,291.85 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 31,494.16 points and a low of 31,379.25 points in the trade so far.

"The benchmark indices opened higher on Wednesday tracking positive global cues after each of the three major indices on Wall Street posted their best one-day percentage gains in over a week ahead of the annual meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole on Friday," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.

"Market breadth was positive... Advance-decline ratio stood at 32 and 19 respectively."