Markets end higher amid strong global cues

Markets ended higher for the second straight day on Wednesday, amid strong global cues, led by gains in capital goods and software shares.

The 30-share Sensex ended up 109 points at 19,253 and the 50-share Nifty gained 34 points to end at 5,819.

Asian stocks ended with sharp gains today with the Nikkei share average scaling a new 4-1/2 year high today, within sight of the 12,000 mark, helped by a record closing on Wall Street and prospects of a reflationary policy in Japan to revive growth.

The Nikkei ended up 2.1% at 11,932.

The Shanghai Composite gained 0.9%, Hang Seng rose 1% and the Straits Times was up 1.3%.

European shares were also trading higher with the DAX up over 1% and the FTSE-100 and CAC-40 up 0.3% each.

In the domestic market, Realty Index led the sectoral indices on the BSE up 4.7% followed by Capital Goods, Metal and IT indices.

Shares of real estate companies have rallied up to 14% on back of heavy volumes on hopes that cooling inflation will force the Reserve Bank of India to cut the repo rate at its policy meeting later this month. DLF ended up 3.8%, HDIL surged 12%, Anant Raj 7.8% and Oberoi Realty ended up 5.8%.

Engineering major L&T was the top Sensex gainer weightage wise up nearly 3% at Rs 1,431 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’.

Goldman cited cheaper valuations after L&T's recent under-performance against the broader index and the prospect of stable revenue growth over the medium term.

BHEL was up 1.7% at Rs 202.

Software

majors which generate most of their revenue from exports gained on the back of a weakening rupee.

Infosys ended up 1.4%, TCS gained 0.9% and Wipro ended up 1.8%.

Metal shares rebounded after the sharp correction on Monday amid concerns over rising inventory levels on the back of poor offtake and slowdown in exports in the wake of falling demand from China.

Sterlite was up 4.8%, Tata Steel rose 2.9%, Hindalco was up 3.5% and Jindal Steel ended up 0.9%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Ind ended nearly 1% up at Rs 834.

ITC ended down nearly 1.6% amid profit booking after recent gains. It may be recalled that the excise duty on cigarettes was hiked by 18% in the Budget.

Among other shares, Uttam Galva Steels ended up 5% at Rs 72 after the company said it planning to raise about Rs 175 crore (Rs 1.75 billion) through placement of shares to fund expansion and augment long term-resources.

The steel manufacture has called the Extra Ordinary General Meeting on March 23, 2013 for taking shareholders approval for the same.

La Opala ended up 20% at Rs 358 after the company recently reported almost three-fold jump in standalone net profit at Rs 9.28 crore (Rs 92.8 million) for the third quarter ended December 31, 2012 against Rs 3.69 crore in a year ago quarter.

The stock has surged 44% in last two sessions.

The broader market also witnessed buying.

The BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 1.1-1.5% each.

Market breadth continued to remain positive with 1,730 gainers and 1,116 losers on the BSE.