The key benchmark indices remained firm in morning trade on higher Asian stocks and gains in US index futures. The BSE 30-share Sensex was up 94.85 points or 0.54%, off close to 20 points from the day's high. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries extended last two days' gains. Realty stocks rose.

Cement shares rose for the second straight day on reports of possible cement price hike. Banking stocks rose, snapping last two days' losses as the latest data showed a surge in credit offtake in the fortnight to 1 January 2010. Metal stocks rose on firm metal prices on the London Metal Exchange. The market breadth was strong.

The government will announce the wholesale price index for December 2009 today. The headline inflation rose 4.78% in November 2009.

The government may reportedly revert to pre-slowdown indirect tax rates in two phases beginning April 2010 as the government weighs likely harm to the ongoing economic recovery if a rollback is done at one go with the urgent need to move towards greater fiscal prudence. A suggestion to undertake a partial rollback figured in the first round of pre-Budget consultations between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and other policymakers recently. With the economy now on a firmer footing and industrial output growth strong, officials are looking to roll back the measures taken as part of the fiscal stimulus to shield the economy from the global recession. While those measures helped realise the primary goal, they pushed fiscal deficit to a 16-year high of 6.8% of the GDP.

The industrial output grew at its fastest pace in two years in November rising 11.7%, strengthening the case for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to tighten policy later this month to temper inflation expectations. The Indian economy is expected to grow by around 7.75% in the fiscal year to March 2010, but food price inflation is a major concern, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday.

The government has extended duty-free imports of white sugar by nine months to 31 December 2010 as it looks to cover a supply shortfall, but has adequate wheat and rice stocks, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday.

Speaking after a cabinet panel reviewed food prices, Pawar said the federal government would allow millers outside Uttar Pradesh state to process raw sugar held up in ports after the Uttar Pradesh state government, under pressure from cane farmers, banned processing of the raws. The government is struggling to contain rising food prices, with food inflation hovering near 20% in December 2009. Duty-free imports of white sugar were earlier allowed up to 31 March 2010, while raw sugar shipments, without any import duty, are already allowed up to 31 December 2010. Pawar said states needed to take stern action against hoarding to help arrest rising food prices. He also said the country had more than adequate stocks of wheat and rice.

Asian stocks rose on Thursday, led by mining and finance companies, as a bigger-than-estimated increase in Australian jobs boosted confidence in the global economic recovery. The key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan rose by between 0.27% to 1.16%.

Japanese wholesale prices fell 3.9% in the year to December, matching a median estimate from analysts, in a sign of persistent deflation due to weak domestic demand.

Trading in US index futures indicated Dow could gain 24 points at the opening bell on Thursday, 14 January 2010.

US stocks closed higher on Wednesday. It was a fresh 15-month closing high for the Dow Jones Industrial Average which rose 53.51 points, or 0.50%, to 10,680.77. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 9.46 points, or 0.83%, to 1,145.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 25.59 points, or 1.12%, to 2,307.90.

In data released yesterday, the Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book regional business survey that the economy improved in 10 of the Fed's 12 districts last month, marking a broadening of the recovery. US economic activity remained at a low level as 2010 began but was improving modestly and beginning to broaden out to include wider swaths of the country, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. The US treasury department said the government racked up $ 91.85 billion budget deficit in December, a record for the month, marking a record 15th straight month of government red ink.

Closer home, at 10:20 IST, the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 94.85 points or 0.54% at 17,604.65. The barometer opened 15.91 points higher 17,525.71 which was also the day's low so far. At the day's high of 17,622.93, the Sensex rose 113.13 points in early trade.

The S&P CNX Nifty was up 33.25 points or 0.64% at 5267.20.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.11% and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.48%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market was strong. On BSE, 1866 shares advanced as compared with 499 that declined. A total of 61 shares remained unchanged.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 20 rose while rest fell.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 1.6% extending last two days' gains. RIL early this week raised $763 million through a block sale of 3.3 crore shares. RIL raised $763 million through a block sale of 3.3 crore shares on Monday

Reliance, which is bidding for bankrupt LyondellBasell Industries, had previously sold treasury shares to state-owned insurer Life Insurance Corp of India raising $577 million. As per reports last week, Reliance had sweetened its offer to buy a controlling stake that valued LyondellBasell at $13.5 billion.

Banking stocks rose, snapping last two days fall after bank loans jumped by around Rs 80,000 crore in the fortnight to 1 January 2010, with the year-on-year rise at a firm 13.66 %, provisional data released by the Reserve Bank of India showed on Wednesday. India's largest bank by net profit and branch network State Bank of India rose 0.43%. Non-performing loans (NPAs) in the small and medium enterprise sector (SME) are on the rise, chairman O.P Bhatt said on Monday. The state-run bank paid advance tax of Rs 1795 crore versus Rs 1700 crore.

India's second largest private sector bank by net profit HDFC Bank rose 0.1% after its ADR rose 0.94% on Wednesday. The bank will announce its Q3 December 2009 result on Friday, 15 January 2010. India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank rose 1.74% as its ADR rose 1.74% on Wednesday.

Bajaj Holdings & Investment rose 2.57% after net profit surged 1332.67% to Rs 114.90 crore on a 865.4% jump in total income to Rs 131.58 crore in Q3 December 2009 over Q3 December 2008.

Metal stocks rose after LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.78% on Wednesday, 13 January 2010. Hindalco Zinc, National Aluminum Company and Sterlite Industries rose by between 0.12% to 1.81%.

Steel shares rose ahead of South Korean steel major POSCO's fourth quarter results later today. The steelmaker is expected to report firm year-on-year earnings growth helped by cheaper raw materials prices and recovering demand. JSW Steel, Steel Authority of India, Jindal Steel & Power rose by between 0.21% to 0.69%.

Tata Steel, the world's eighth-largest steelmaker rose 0.68% extending gains for the second straight day. The company said on 5 January 2010 sales from its Indian operations rose 73% in December 2009 to 636,000 tonnes from a year earlier. The Indian operations account for about a quarter of the group's total annual global capacity of 30 million tonnes, which includes unit Corus, Europe's second-largest steelmaker.

Rate sensitive realty stocks rose on bargain hunting after last two days' losses. India's largest realty player by market capitalization DLF rose 1.2%. On 16 December 2009, the company's board approved merger of its commercial realty arm DLF Assets (DAL) with itself, a move aimed at repaying some of DAL's debt.

Among other realty stocks, Ackruti City, Omaxe, Unitech and Indiabulls Real Estate rose by between 1.12% to 3.52%.

Shares of key cement makers rose for the second straight day on reports cement makers are set to hike prices by Rs 3-5 per 50 kilogram bag from Friday, 15 January 2009, in northern, southern and western markets. ACC, Ambuja Cement, UltraTech Cements rose by between 0.08% to 1.79%.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose 1.34% after the company's American depository receipt, or ADR rose 3.66% to $27.21 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, 13 January 2010.

Wockhardt rose 2.63%, after the company received tentative approval from the US Food & Drug Administration for marketing Levofloxacin tablets in multiple strengths.

Supreme Industries gained 2.54%, after the company reported net profit of Rs 35.92 crore in Q2 December 2009 as compared to net loss of Rs 1.49 crore in Q2 December 2008.