The Sensex ended the day higher by 133 points, while the Nifty gained 41 points. Stocks that surged in trade today were Bajaj Auto, Jaiprakash Associates, IDFC, BPCL, Sesa Goa and Bhel.

Stocks rallied across the board with the metal stocks and high beta names most sought after. Shares of Steel Authority of India gained more than 4%, with other winners from the metal space including names like Sesa Goa, Sterlite Industries, Hindalco and Hindustan Zinc.

The Bank Nifty also saw sharp gains with stocks like Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank all gaining in early trade.

The high beta capital goods names saw renewed buying interest with prominent gainers including Crompton Greaves, Bhel, Praj Industries, Havells India and Siemens.

IT stocks were subdued in trade today as a strong rupee played spoilsport. Most of the stocks were trading flat to negative.

Auto stocks rallied in line with broad market sentiments with Mahindra and Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki amongst the gainers. Hero MotorCorp ended the day flat after the country's largest two-wheeler maker reported a marginal increase in its sales at 5,41,615 units in December 2012.

Among the stocks that lost ground in trade today from the Nifty stocks were Asian Paints, ITC, Wipro and Coal India.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia ended the day higher with the Hang Sang soaring 2.89%. Other Asian markets that rallied including the Korean, Singapore and the Taiwanese markets. Some of the other Asian markets were closed for trading.

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