The Sensex and Nifty ended higher by nearly one per cent on revival of buying interest in recently battered Infosys, banking and financial stocks amid firm global cues.

The 30-share BSE index closed higher by 276.16 points or 0.88 per cent at 31,568.01. The 50-share NSE index ended up by 86.95 points or 0.89 per cent higher at 9,852.5. Both the indexes recorded gains for a second straight session.

Barring consumer durables and FMCG, all other BSE sectoral indices ended in the positive zone. Among them, realty index gained the most by 3.48 per cent, followed by metal 1.81 per cent, banking 1.39 per cent and PSU 1.2 per cent, while consumer durables index was down 0.75 per cent and FMCG 0.04 per cent.

Realty stocks gained with DLF Ltd climbing nearly 8 per cent after it said an audit committee would review the status of the proposed sale of compulsorily convertible preference shares to an affiliate of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.

Bank stocks also gained after the Union Cabinet approved a mechanism to oversee consolidation in public sector banks.

Top five Sensex gainers were Adani Ports (+2.79%), Bharti Airtel (+2.41%), Tata Steel (+2.28%), Dr Reddy's (+2.25%) and Infosys (+1.98%), while the major losers were HUL (-1.05%), Sun Pharma (-0.45%), ITC (-0.28%), Power Grid (-0.21%) and M&M (-0.13%).

Infosys stock made a significant rally by climbing 1.98 per cent to Rs 894.50 on value-buying amid speculation that Nandan Nilekani might return as the company’s head.

Shares of Fortis Healthcare Ltd rose as much as 7.3 per cent following a block deal worth Rs 60.59 crore on Tuesday, while Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a “buy" rating.

“Average first-quarter corporate results and a lack of fresh triggers will see markets remain range-bound in the near to medium term,” said RK Gupta, managing director at Taurus Asset Management.

According to NSE data, institutional interest has been steadily rising with domestic buyers picking up shares worth a net Rs 435 crore on Tuesday.

Asian stocks steadied on Wednesday, taking a breather after the previous day's surge and unable to keep up with a global rally spurred by gains for tech shares on Wall Street and miners in Europe.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan , which initially inched up to a two-week high, pulled back to stand little changed following a 0.7 per cent rally on Tuesday.

US stocks had ended up on Tuesday, with each of the three major indexes posting their best one-day percentage gains in over a week, as lawmakers' comments on tax reforms and the debt ceiling boosted investor optimism.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 196.14 points or 0.9 per cent to 21,899.89, the S&P 500 gained 24.14 points or 0.99 per cent to 2,452.51 and the Nasdaq Composite added 84.35 points or 1.36 per cent to 6,297.48.

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