Markets remain higher led by IT & financial shares

Benchmark indices are trading higher led by buying among software and financial shares.

By 13:00, Sensex gained by 84 points at 18,311, and the Nifty was up 25 points at 5,520 levels.

On the global front, Japan's Nikkei average rose on Wednesday morning, moving closer to a near five-year high, helped by optimism in the economic outlook since the Bank of Japan started its sweeping monetary expansion campaign. Shares of banks and real estate firms led the gains on expectations that the reflationary policy will benefit them the most.

Back home, the rupee recovered by 13 paise to 54.45 against the American currency in the late morning trade on fresh selling of dollars by banks on the back of lower dollar in the overseas market.

Car sales in India fell an annual 6.7% in the financial year that end  mong other shares, GlaxoSmithkline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare is trading lower by 3.5% to Rs 3,935 extending its previous day’s 3% fall after the packaging foods maker said its chairman, Simon Scarff, has expressed his wish to step down from April 30, 2013.
Shasun Pharmaceuticals has moved higher by over 5% to Rs 68.90 in otherwise subdued market after the company said it has entered into a licensing agreement with a Swiss-based Debiopharm Group for the manufacturing and commercialization of Huperzine-A.

Ravi Kumar
pgdm 2nd sem