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 on Wednesday.
The 30-share Sensex ended up 44 points at 19,392 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 11 points at 5,900.
Investors were cautious ahead of the outcome of Parliament voting on foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail in Wednesday's session after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's minority United Progressive Alliance government bowed to opposition pressure last week ending days of deadlock in Parliament.
The Sensex saw a high of 19,463 and a low of 19,371 and the Nifty swayed between 5,891 and 5,918.
Meanwhile, India's services Purchasing Managers' Index, fell to 13-month low of 52.1 in November from October's 53.8, data showed on Wednesday.
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.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei average rose to a seven-month closing high on Wednesday, lifted by sharp gains in Chinese equities.
The Nikkei ended 0.4% higher at 9,469.Among the other major gainers were Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng up 2-3%.
European shares continued their recent rally on Wednesday after comments from China's new leader boosted global growth expectations.
London's FTSE 100, Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX showed gains of 0.5-0.6%.
Among the sectoral indices, Realty, Metal were the top index gainers, up 2-3% followed by Oil & Gas, Bankex and PSU indices which added 0.5-0.7%.
Metal shares gained on reports of higher demand from China, the world's largest consumer of copper and aluminum. The top gainers were Sterlite, Sesa Goa, Hindalco, JSW Steel, Tata Steel and SAIL which gained 2-5%.
Apart from the metals, SBI, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, ITC, Hero MotoCorp, Reliance Industries and ONGC up 1% each were the notable gainers.
On the other hand, IT, Power and Health Care closed for the day in the red losing 0.5-1%.
Indian IT shares were in the red on fears that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp may issue lower revenue growth guidance for 2013
The draggers in this space were Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech down 1-2%. TCS closed down 0.1%.
Tata Power, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra, Jindal Steel, Coal India, Bharti Airtel, HDFC down 0.3-3% were the other major losers among the Sensex-30.
The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices rose 0.4% each, marginally outperforming the Sensex which was up 0.3%.
The overall breadth was strong as 1,692 stocks advanced while1 1,228 stocks declined on the BSE.
Among other notable movers, Venus Remedies surged 4.5% to Rs 312 after the company said it has got an approval from the Drugs Controller General of India to conduct Phase-III clinical trials of its cancer detection New Chemical Entity which will involve an investment of $1 million.
MRF closed up 4% at Rs 11,639, after touching a record high of 11,829 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Sundaram Finance rallied 4% to Rs 1,044 after the company fixed December 14, 2012 as record date for the proposed 1:1 bonus issue.
BEML, the maker of heavy industrial equipments, gained 5% after the state-owned company said that it has received orders worth of Rs 523 crore from the Indian railways and from Saudi Arabia.
Tree House Education and Accessories soared 9% to Rs 258 after the board of educational services providers approved the allotment of equity shares to Aditya Birla Private Equity and ON Mauritius on preferential basis.
Heritage Foods (India) was locked in 5% upper circuit at Rs 487 on reports that equity fund promoted by Wipro, Chairman Azim Premji has bought a stake in the company.
Shares of companies engaged in retail business are in focus in late noon deals ahead of key foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail vote in Parliament later Wednesday.
Shopper Stop, Pantaloon Retail (India), Trent Limited and Provouge (India) have rallied up 5-8% on the BSE on back of heavy volumes.
