Benchmark share indices were trading near their day's high in late morning deals after stabilising global crude prices led to buying interest in oil and gas shares.

At 11:35am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 261 points at 25,852 after hitting an intra-day high of 25,863 and the NIfty50 was up 76 points at 7,862 after touching an intra-day high of 7,865.

Markets are trading higher in line with their global peers following a modest recovery in global crude oil prices. Further, the contraction in CAD in the September quarter bolstered the sentiments at the D-Street.

At 12:50 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex has climbed 244 261 points to trade at 25,835 after hitting an intra-day high of 25,863 and the NIfty50 has surged 72 points to quote at 7,858 after touching an intra-day high of 7,865.

Wipro, India’s third-largest IT services provider, on Wednesday, said that it has signed a definite agreement to acquire New Jersey-based business process as-a-service (BPaaS) provider Viteos Group for a consideration of $130 million (around Rs 860 crore). This is the Bengaluru-based company’s second acquisition in this month after it decided to acquire German IT and consulting services provider Cellent AG for $77 million (about Rs 517 crore).

Founded in 2003, Somerset-headquartered Viteos Group addresses the alternative investment management industry in the US, Europe and Asia through over 400 employees.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged orders worth Rs 1,178 crore across various segments so far this month.

"The construction arm of L&T has won orders worth Rs 1,178 crore across various businesses in December 2015", the company said in a filing to the BSE.

Matrimony.Com, which operates under BharatMatrimony brand, and Quick Heal Technologies have received markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) approval to launch their Initial Public Offers (IPOs) and may raise around Rs 1,000 crore.

Matrimony.Com had filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with Sebi in August, while Quick Heal had submitted its draft documents in September.

The government has taken steps to prevent poaching of pilots of Air India by its competitors with the national carrier facing a shortage of 180 trained pilots due to resignation and natural attrition, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

"There is a shortage of approximately 180 trained pilots due to resignations/attrition in the recent past and ensuing fleet augmentation," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said in reply to a questioning Rajya Sabha.

With quality determination of fossil fuels posing as a challenge to the government, the state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) has roped in additional third-party agencies to do the job.

"CEA (Central Electricity Authority) has recommended empanelment of additional third-party sampling agencies in pursuance to which... Agencies are being empanelled in addition to the existing third-party agencies," Coal India said in a letter.

Reliance Communications (RCOM) has entered into discussions with promoters of Aircel for a possible merger, after over a month of announcement of a similar deal with MTS, Indian unit of Russia's Sistema Group.

RCom has entered into a 90-day exclusivity period with Maxis Communications Berhad (MCB) and Sindya Securities and Investments Private Limited, who are the shareholders of Aircel Ltd.

Google and Ford will announce a new autonomous vehicle joint venture at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, says a report in Yahoo Autos. If it goes through, the partnership would represent a significant collaboration between two of the biggest names in the tech and automotive industries.

A Google spokesperson said the company had no comment. TechCrunch has also contacted Ford.

Bengaluru: Nike Inc.’s October announcement of a partnership with DreamWorks Animation-backed Nova to tap 3D technology to change the way it designs its athletic gear, was cheered in the Bengaluru office of Infosys Ltd.

The Indian software services firm invested $15 million in Nova earlier this year, its first investment from a $500 million innovation fund created to back start-ups focused on disruptive technologies.

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