The Sensex ended the day higher by 228 points, while the Nifty gained 69 points in trade. The Nifty hit 6000 for the first time since Feb 2013. Rate sensitives gained ahead of the RBI policy meet.

Banking stocks were in the limelight with private sector names like HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank rallying, along with PSU banking names like Bank of Baroda, Allahabad Bank and IDBI Bank.

Canara Bank along with Andhra Bank rallied after the results reported by both the government owned banks were in line.

Realty stocks also saw buying interest, pinning hopes on the RBI rate cut. Among the stocks that gained from the sector were Anant Raj Industries, DB Realty and HDIL. Unitech was the star performer of the day jumping more then 4 per cent.

Hindustan Unilever, which rose sharply in trading on Tuesday following an open offer by the parent company, saw profit booking in trade today. HUL was the top losers in trade today from the Nifty pack followed by Cairn India, Gail and Hero Motor Corp.

Top gainers from the Nifty were Jaiprakash Associates, Reliance Infra and Mahindra and Mahindra. Tech stocks were the flavour in trade today with Infosys, TCS and Mindtree among the gainers.

Mid cap stocks also rallied in trade with prominent gainers from the space being Future Retail, GMR Infra, HDIL, IDBI Bank, IFCI and India Cements.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia ended the day lower led by losses in the Hang Sang and the Shanghai Composite. European markets were trading slightly lower ahead of an ECB meet to decide on interest rates.

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