Indian Stocks Advance; Nifty Hits 5,600 Level

Indian stock markets advanced Wednesday, led by gains from realty and consumer durables sectors.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 0.70 percent or 127.97 points to 18458.85 and the 50 share NSE Nifty advanced 0.67 percent or 37.45 points to 5609.60.

Markets opened on a firm note, tracking the positive cues from Asian peers. However, markets pared earlier gains after euro zone finance ministers failed to clinch a deal that would unblock the next tranche of financial aid to debt-laden Greece. Concerns about the US 'fiscal cliff' also revived after the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that a failure to avert the potential fiscal crisis could push the country into recession.

Meanwhile, investors also opted for caution as the Indian government aims to pass bills opening up the insurance and pension sectors to foreign investors in a parliament session that starts Thursday.

"Investors are a bit cautious ahead of the winter session of parliament to open Thursday, as they are waiting for positive triggers to emerge from the government's efforts toward reforms for higher economic growth," Harish Vasudevan, strategist at SVS Securities, told the Wall Street Journal.

Among the sectoral indices, Realty and Consumer durables sectors surged 2.22 percent and 1.55 percent respectively. D B Realty Ltd. climbed 7.48 percent and Unitech Ltd. surged 3.52 percent.

Software firms advanced as the rupee declined to a more than two-month low against the U.S. dollar. Tech Mahindra gained 1.68 percent and Infosys advanced 1.13 percent while TCS rose 0.5 percent.

Shares of Bharti Airtel declined 1.41 percent on profit booking. The company stock surged nearly 15 percent so far in November. The overall market breadth was positive with 1382 advanced against 1302 declines.

The BSE's Midcap Index gained 0.41 percent to 6575.57 and Smallcap Index advanced 0.41 percent to 7017.03. CNX midcap Index gained 0.53 percent and CNX IT rose 0.88 percent.