Markets ended higher on Wednesday amid hopes that the UPA-led government has the required majority to win the vote in Parliament on FDI in multi-brand retail later today.
The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended up 60 points at 19,408 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 18 points at 5,907.
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(Updated at 14:25hrs)
Indian shares consolidated gains in afternoon trades on hopes of growth recovery in Asia's third-biggest economy, however, investors were cautious ahead of key FDI vote in Parliament later today that will test the Congress-led UPA government's ability to push through key reforms.
At 2:25PM, the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex rose 74 points to 19,423, while National Stock Exchange's Nifty-50 index gained 19 points to 5,908 in the lafternoon deals.
Investors were cautious ahead of the the outcome of Parliament voting on foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail in today's session after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's minority UPA government bowed to opposition pressure last week ending days of deadlock in Parliament.
Meanwhile, India's services Purchasing Managers' Index, fell to 13-month low of 52.1 in November from October's 53.8, data showed today.
Global risk appetite was firm after China's Communist Party’s new leaders said it would actively promote urbanization amid hopes of resolution in US budget talks.
European markets also added gains in opening trades. France's CAC rose 0.7% to 3,605, Germany's DAX gained 0.5% to 7,473 while UK's FTSE traded up 0.5% to 5,897.
Asian markets ended day with Japan's Nikkei, China's Shanghai and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rising nearly 0.4-2.8%.
Back home, metals, real-estate, banks, oil & gas indexes were leading gains while IT led declines on BSE.
Among key Sensex stocks, Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel and Sterlite Industries rose between 2-3% each in metal space while State Bank of India and HDFC Bank gained over 1% . Among laggards, Wipro, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services fell 0.3-1% and Bharti Airtel dropped nearly 1% in afternoon trades.
Indian IT shares dropped on fears that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp may issue lower revenue growth guidance for 2013 based on compensation targets for top executives, dealers said. Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services have dipped between 0.2-2%.
However, metal companies rose nearly 3% on reports of higher demand from China, the world's largest consumer of copper and aluminum.
Among other notable movers, Venus Remedies has surged 7% to Rs 319 after the company said it has got an approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to conduct Phase-III clinical trials of its cancer detection New Chemical Entity (NCE) which will involve an investment of $1 million.
MRF is trading higher by around 5% at Rs 11,700, also its record high on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The stock of tyre maker outperformed the market by gaining 16% in past one week compared to 3% rise in benchmark Sensex, after the announcement of September quarter earnings.
Sundaram Finance has rallied over 7% at Rs 1,081 after the company fixed December 14, 2012 as record date for the proposed 1:1 bonus issue.
The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices rose nearly 1% each.
The overall breadth is strong as 1,687 stocks have advanced while1 1,119 stocks declined on the BSE.
