Shares of Vedanta ended higher by 2.5 percent on Wednesday and gained for the third day in a row. The company approved its fifth interim dividend of Rs 20.5 per share for the current financial year. This has taken the company's total dividend payout this year in excess of Rs 100 per share.

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Sources within the dealing rooms indicate that a large block deal is likely to take place in the stock soon.

Bloomberg had earlier reported that promoter Anil Agarwal is looking to sell stake in the company, a report that Agarwal refuted to CNBC-TV18.

Fourth Negative Expiry

Benchmark indices ended higher in mid-week trading amid high volumes due to various indices going through rebalancing. Dealers also indicated that non-index rebalance flows were mixed but with a positive bias.

Despite the gains on Wednesday, the Nifty 50 fell over 450 points in the March F&O series, marking its worst expiry since September last year. However, the index managed to hold the 17,000 mark.

Dealing rooms suggest that small buying interest has returned among FIIs when it comes to banking stocks. Dealers also observed that the Nifty 50 is respecting levels of 16,800 on the downside.

Besides Vedanta, here are some other stocks that have been part of the dealing room chatter today:

Max Financial Services: Shares ended with gains of over 3 percent after 30 lakh shares of the company exchanged hands in a large trade. Dealing room sources told CNBC-TV18 that promoter entity is likely to be the seller, while a leading wealth firm is likely to be the buyer in this transaction.

Asian Paints: The stock ended lower for the second day on Wednesday and has been consolidating over the last few trading sessions. Dealers said that FIIs have been selling the stock recently, leading to pressure on the share price.

Jain Irrigation: Shares ended 12 percent higher on Wednesday, its biggest in a single day since November 2020. The stock gained on Wednesday after a four-day drop. All eyes are now on the merger of the company's international business with Temasek's arm.

(Edited by : Hormaz Fatakia)