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Markets reversed its early losses and edged higher in the noon trades as European markets opened on a firm note. Also, buying in financials and IT stocks ahead of the Infosys Q4 earnings helped the benchmark indices in the upmove.
At 1435 hrs, the Sensex was up 171 points at 18,397 and the Nifty gained 53 points to trade at 5,548.
Earlier in the day, the BSE benchmark index, had touched a low of 18,173 and saw a high of 18,382 in a volatile session. Meanwhile, the Nifty cracked below the 5,500 mark and touch a low of 4,477 in intra-day trades only to regain in late noon trades to touch a high of 5,537.
However, weakness persisted in the broader markets with the midcap and the smallcap indices losing 0.1-0.3%.
Meanwhile, Asian shares edged higher as Chinese trade data signaled a recovery in the world's second largest economy, adding to an improving sentiment after Wall Street closed at a record high overnight, while the yen remained under pressure.
The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2%, pulled higher by its materials sector with a 1.3% jump, as iron ore prices recovered.
Seoul shares rose 0.6%, with investors focusing on the chance the country's central bank may cut interest rates when it meets on Thursday, rather than on concerns about North Korea.
In Japan, the Nikkei stock average climbed 0.7%, as the Bank of Japan's aggressive monetary easing stimulus boosted prospects for better corporate earnings, particularly exporters as it has pushed the yen sharply lower against major currencies.
The European markets too opened on a positive note with Paris's CAC-40, Frankfurt's DAX and London FTSE 100 gaining between 0.4 and 0.6%.
Back home, among the sectoral indices, FMCG and Metal indices traded in the negative, losing 0.3% each while all the others were in the green. The ones leading the gains were IT, Bankex and Capital Goods indices gaining 1-1.5%.
Wipro up 2.5% followed by TCS and Infosys gaining nearly 1.5% each were the major movers in the IT space.
Among the financials, HDFC, SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank added 1-3%.
From the auto space, Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto gained 1-2%.
L&T, Cipla, NTPC and Bharti Airtel up 0.8-2% were the other notable gainers.
The ones in the negative among the Sensex-30 were Sun Pharma, Jindal Steel, Sterlite, BHEL, ONGC, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hindustan Unilever down 0.6-2%.
The market breadth was negative due to weakness in broader markets. 1243 stocks declined while 989 stocks advanced.
