The local equity markets rallied for the third day in a row on Wednesday as investors continued to cheer the FY11 budget. The markets witnessed good start in the morning underpinned by strong global cues. As observed in Tuesday's session, the bourses saw pick-up in the latter part of the day with across-the-board participation. The BSE's 30-share Sensex managed to reclaim the psychological 17,000-mark in trade while the NSE' 50-share Nifty just shied away from the crucial 5100-level. Surge in exports for the third successive month improved the market sentiment. India's merchandise exports increased to $14.34 billion in January 2010, up 11.5% over $12.86 billion recorded in the year ago period. Stocks from oil & gas, realty and power space pulled the markets higher. Rise in metal prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) supported gains on the metal counter in trade.  Meanwhile, largest private sector company of the country Reliance Industries (RIL) -- which carries highest weight on the BSE's sensitive index -- was the star performer of the day, gaining almost four percent. On the flip side, weakness in another index heavyweight and PSU oil company ONGC capped further rise on the key indices. Selective selling was seen in auto, cement and metal stocks during the session. ARSS Infrastructure Projects, which listed on the bourses today, was the biggest gainer. The company's share price saw stupendous gains of over 63% compared to its issue price of Rs 450 a piece. Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 227.45 points or 1.36% to settle at 17,000.01 while the S&P CNX Nifty rose 71.1 points or 1.42% to close at 5088.10.

The US markets closed mixed on Wednesday on concern that the economic recovery might remain slow. The major indices made a good start on an upbeat report on services industries and few more corporate deals news. The Institute for Supply Management's services index for February rose to 53 from 50.5 in January, better than what analyst expected on the same time Private equity firm Elliott Associates offered to buy the 91.5 percent of software maker Novell Inc. But it was the report of Federal Reserve that took the sheen out of the markets; the Fed reported that economic activity has improved in nine of its 12 districts but that the gains are still modest. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 9.22 points, or 0.09%, to 10,396.76. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index was marginally up by 0.48 points, or 0.04%, to 1,118.79 while the Nasdaq composite index closed slightly in red by 0.11 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,280.68.

Crude prices surged for the second consecutive day and managed the highest close in seven weeks, as the dollar eased against euro after the austerity measures of Greece and also there were some good economic reports. The momentum of the crude was so high that it ignored the inventory data showing crude stocks rose more than expected last week. Benchmark crude for April settled up $1.19, or 1.49 percent, at $80.87 a barrel, its highest close since January 11 and after trading in a range of $79.44 to $81.23 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, April Brent crude ended up 1.07, or 1.37 percent, at $79.25 a barrel.

The Indian rupee surged past its six week high on Wednesday. The domestic currency made a strong start tracking the gains in other regional currency and equity markets. The local equity markets surprised with continuation of rally for the third consecutive day and supported the sentiment of the rupee to scale new high. The dollar fell to its lowest level in more than two months against the yen on Wednesday while the euro recovered from its more than 9 month low. Finally the rupee closed at 45.83/84, 18 paise higher compared to its Tuesday's close of 46.01/02.

The FII on Wednesday were the net buyers in both equity as well as debt segments. In equity segment the gross buying was of Rs 3812.70 crore against gross sell of Rs 2278.00 crore, while in the debt segment the gross purchase was of Rs 992.40 crore with gross sales of Rs 652.70 crore.

The US markets closed flat with negative bias the concern of slow economic recovery was once again in the mind of investors after the Fed reported that the economic gains are modest. The Asian markets have made a quiet start with some indices trading marginally in red. The Indian markets continued its rally for the third consecutive day in previous session, momentum gained by the budget was not showing any sign of fatigue, the other major support through the continued buying from FII. The trade today might inch for some consolidation and traders might opt to go for some profit booking.

Support and Resistance: S&P CNX Nifty and BSE Sensex

                                                             Nifty Top volumes

• It has been reported that Unitech is looking to refinance debt of over Rs 5,000 crore through longer term and cheaper loans.
• Jaiprakash Associates has reported a 61% rise in the cement dispatches including clinker sale during February, 2010 over the same period last year.
• Ranbaxy has failed to get the US health regulator's nod for launching generic version of Flomax, missing the opportunity to launch the drug in America.
• Rating agency Moody's has said it may upgrade the corporate family rating of Tata Motors on better third quarter results.
• Tata Steel's European unit Corus has sold its stake in a joint venture operating a tar distillation plant in the Netherlands.

Aurobindo Pharma has received the Health Canada's nod for its Abbreviated New Drug Submission - Cefuroxime Axetil tablets 250mg and 500mg. This is the eighth product of the pharma major which has been approved by the Canada's drug regu...