The benchmark indices rallied smartly on the back of positive global cues and ended the session as well as April series on a strong note. This uptrend was supported by technology, oil & gas, metal, rate sensitives and infrastructure stocks followed by midcaps and smallcaps. The Sensex surpassed the 11,400 level while the Nifty closed above the 3450 level; both the indices recovered all of Tuesday's losses.

The 30-share BSE Sensex shut shop at 11,403.25, with a gain of 401.50 points or 3.65% over previous close, and ended this truncated with a gain of 0.65%. The 50-share NSE Nifty surged 3.32% or 111.60 points, to settle at 3,473.95 and lost 0.2% this week.

Leading heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ONGC, Bharti, Infosys, ICICI Bank, NTPC, BHEL, SBI, TCS, Wipro, HUL and HDFC gained 2.5-9%.

The Sensex ended the April series with 17.5% gain while the Nifty surged 15% from the close of March series. But the experts are cautious for the May series.
 
R Venkat Subramanium, Head-Alternate Investments Group, Kotak Securities, said he would be extremely cautious while stepping into the May series.

Ajay Loganadan, Head-Investment Advisory Group Private Banking, HSBC Private Banking also said, "We have got enough uncertainty in May, one is election results; secondly on May 4 we get the stress test result from the global banks. Today's news was that 6 out of 19 will need additional capital. So there is some amount of uncertainty given the month ahead."

On the sectoral front, the BSE IT Index was up 5% and the Bankex shot up 4.5%. The Oil & Gas Index went up 3.5%. Power, Auto, Metal, Realty and Capital Goods indices gained 2-3%.

Volumes increased as compared to previous session but did not cross Rs 1 lakh crore mark. Total traded turnover was at Rs 99,710.81 crore. This included Rs 15,501.44 crore from NSE cash segment, Rs 80,063.40 crore from NSE F&O and the balance Rs 4,145.97 crore from BSE cash segment.

Global markets also bounced back in today's trade. At the time of closing of Indian equities, European markets were trading higher. The FTSE went up 45 points, to 4,141. The CAC was trading at 3,094, up 43 points and the DAX rose 48 points, to 4,655.

Among the US futures, the Dow Jones futures were trading at 8,043, up 76 points and the Nasdaq futures went up 12.25 points, to 1,372.75.

Asian markets rallied strongly; Shanghai, Hang Seng, Seoul Composite and Jakarta Composite gained 2.76-3%. Straits Times was up 2.28% and Taiwan Weighted rose 0.31%. Nikkei shut today.

Sectoral indices
The BSE IT Index outperformed other indices, surged 125.51 points or 4.95%, to settle at 2,663.35. Infosys, Wipro, TCS, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra were up 3-5.3%.

Bank and oil & gas were other strong supportive sectors in today's trade; the BSE Bankex shot up 4.47% or 243.47 points, to 5,685.22 and the Oil & Gas Index went up 273.82 points or 3.48%, to 8,132.62.

Among the banking stocks, ICICI Bank surged 8.74%. Axis Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank and PNB were up 1-4.7%.

In the oil & gas space, ONGC, Reliance Industries and Reliance Petroleum gained 3.7-4%.

Power stocks charged up; Tata Power, Suzlon Energy, Reliance Infrastructure, GVK Power, GMR Infra and NTPC went up 2.4-6.6%. Respective Index rose 3.17% or 64.87 points, to 2,112.76.

Buying was also seen in auto, metal, realty and capital goods stocks; BSE Auto Index was up 99.22 points or 2.92%, to close at 3,498.24, as Ashok Leyland, Hero Honda and Tata Motors were up 4-5.7%. Bharat Forge, M&M and Maruti Suzuki gained 1.9-3.9%.

Sterlite Industries, JSW Steel, Hindustan Zinc, Jindal Saw, Tata Steel and SAIL went up 1-6.8% in the metal space. Respective Index shut shop at 6,885.81, up 2.84% or 190.25 points.

The Realty Index went up 2.6% or 53.94 points, to 2,130.41, as HDIL, Puravankara Projects, Akruti City, Indiabulls Real, DLF and Unitech gained 2.7-5.5%.

Capital Goods stocks like Siemens, BHEL, Punj Lloyd and ABB shot up 2-4.9%; L&T was up 0.79%, which helped the respective index to close 2.24% or 173.54 points higher at 7,908.75.

The BSE FMCG Index rose 1.53% or 31.62 points, to 2,095 and the Healthcare Index went up 30.14 points or 0.99%, to 3,067.98.

Broader indices also followed the same trend; the BSE Midcap Index closed 63.15 points or 1.83% higher at 3,513.86 and the Smallcap Index went up 1.35% or 52.58 points, to settle at 3,940.90.

Among the midcap stocks, Dish TV India, Nirma, LIC Housing Finance, SKF India and Welspun Gujarat gained 9.6-11.7%.

In the small cap space, JK Tyre, Shanthi Gears, Zylog Systems, Ceat and Garden Silk Mills shot up 10-15%.

Leading sugar stocks like Bajaj Hindusthan, Balrampur Chini, Dwarikesh Sugar, Oudh Sugar Mill, Shree Renuka and Triveni Engg were up 5-7.5%.

The market breadth was positive due to gain in broader indices; about 1667 shares advanced while 1305 shares declined. Nearly 138 shares remained unchanged.

Asian markets were trading higher. Hang Seng, Kospi and Jakarta Composite gained 2.2% each. Straits Times and Shanghai were up over 1%. Taiwan Weighted was up 0.6%. Nikkei shut today.