Benchmark equity indices witnessed spectacular day of trade on Wednesday underpinned by the positive cues from the worldwide markets and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's comments on the growth of Indian economy. He said that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) can grow at 7.75% in the current financial year and it will expand at 9-10% in next 2-3 years. After opening on a flat note markets never looked back and kept on adding weight during the entire session. Strong rally on the BSE Sensex and the S&P CNX Nifty helped them regain the psychological levels of 17,000 and 5100, respectively. Optimistic developments on the divestment programme boosted market confidence in trade. Besides this, heavy buying from investors also triggered short covering from traders which strengthened the rally further. Metal, oil & gas, power, capital goods and information technology stocks were the prominent gainers in trade. The broader indices failed to match their larger counterparts in trade but they managed to shut shop with healthy gains of over one and a half percent. Finally, the 30-share BSE Sensex surged 539.11 points or 3.23% to end at 17,231.11, while the 50-share S&P CNX Nifty climbed 158.75 points or 3.18% to settle at 5144.60.

US markets closed modestly higher on Wednesday, it was a choppy session and once the markets declined with the report of lowest new home sales since March, but gains in commodities drove the shares of energy and materials-producing companies higher, lending support to the overall stock market. Gold, oil and other commodities rose as the dollar dropped. Volume remained light due to Christmas holiday; the markets will be open a half day on Thursday and be closed on Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average was up by marginal 1.51 points, or 0.01%, to 10,466.44. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 2.57 points, or 0.23%, to 1,120.59, while the Nasdaq composite index gained 16.97 points, or 0.75%, to 2,269.64.

Crude prices surged on Wednesday on report of more than expected decline in crude stocks. Energy Information Administration reported that the amount of crude and gasoline held in storage tumbled last week. The other major factor supporting the surge in crude was weakness in dollar. Benchmark crude for February delivery rose $2.27 to settle at $76.67 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for February delivery rose $1.53 to $74.99 on the ICE Futures exchange.

The Indian rupee closed marginally lower on Wednesday, the rupee started flat as the regional markets were trading mixed and started trailing down in the morning but the good start of the local markets well supported the currency, finally it was the month end dollar demand from the oil refiners who had their say and the rupee closed weaker. Finally the rupees closed at 46.87, 7 paise weaker compared to its Tuesday's close of 46.80/81.

The FII on Wednesday were the net buyers in the equity segment with gross buying of Rs 1410.80 crore against gross sell of Rs 1185.80 crore, while in the debt segment they were the net sellers with a gross purchase of Rs 174.00 crore against gross sales of Rs 245.10 crore.

The US markets closed almost flat ahead of the holiday season, the volume remained low and the trade was choppy as the new home sales report came unexpectedly weak but the decline in dollar helped the commodities stock to cover up and finally the markets closed in green. The Asian markets have continued their upmove and most of the indices are trading high. The domestic markets went for a surprise rally in previous trading and witnessed one of the highest volumes in the holiday season. Commodities were the biggest gainers and the global momentum is indicating the continuation of rally for them; overall the markets are likely to make a good start.

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

                                                          Nifty Top volumes

• Unitech has said that it has no plans for fund raising in the medium term and will concentrate on Mumbai as a market. 
• NTPC has been awarded ICSI National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance 2009.
• TATA Steel is planning to use Corus' R&D expertise as well as its knowledge in steel construction in India.
• IDFC Project Equity Fund will buy a 27% stake in Adhunik Metalik's power unit, Adhunik Power for Rs 250 crore.
• The petroleum ministry has asked GAIL India to assure gas supplies when the projects become operational.