Indian equity benchmarks began Wednesday's session on a positive note tracking gains across global markets. Broad-based gains pushed the headline indices higher, with financial and IT stocks being the biggest movers. Investors continued to track updates about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, crude oil and COVID cases in China closely.

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The 30-scrip BSE Sensex began the day up 209.3 points or 0.4 percent at 58,198.6 and the broader blue-chip index Nifty50 started the day at 17,405.1, up 89.6 points or 0.5 percent from its previous close.

Hindalco, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, State Bank of India, SBI Life and Axis Bank were among the top blue-chip gainers in the first few minutes of the session. Coal India, Bharti Airtel, Britannia, BPCL and ITC were the top laggards.

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI and Reliance Industries were the biggest contributors to the gains in both headline indices.

Broader markets also opened in the green, in line with headline indices, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 indices rising nearly one percent each.

State-run oil marketing companies Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Unilever traded on a mixed note. The three raised retail prices of petrol and diesel by 80 paise a litre each for a second straight day. The latest hikes come after four months of no change in rates.

Crude oil prices rose, recovering losses from the previous session, after industry data showed US crude stocks fell last week. The latest US reading highlights tight global supplies amid the hit to Russian output from economic sanctions on Moscow.

Brent crude futures climbed by $1.1 or 0.9 percent to $116.5 a barrel, having shed 14 cents in the previous session. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose by 87 cents or 0.8 percent to $110.1 a barrel.

Deven Choksey of KRChoksey is of the view there is a limited downside in the Indian market at the current juncture. "India offers a very strong proposition to global markets, where large amounts of funds are shifting back to equity. India has been inviting a lot of money into the infrastructure space," he said. FPIs are looking at Indian markets favourably due to these two factors, he said.

"Fortunately, sellers in FIIs have now started to like buying... To a greater extent, I would like to believe that the market is in a stable zone for the time being," he said.

Provisional exchange data shows FPIs net purchased Indian shares worth Rs 384.5 crore on Tuesday, though DIIs made net sales to the tune of Rs 602 crore -- in contrast to the trend seen in the past almost six months.

Meanwhile, equities in other Asian markets hit three-week highs as cash fleeing tumbling bond markets flowed back toward big tech and other beaten-up sectors. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 percent, with Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney all registering similar gains. Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 2.5 percent to a two-month peak.

S&P 500 futures were up 0.1 percent. Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent, the Dow Jones 0.7 percent and the tech stocks-heavy Nasdaq Composite two percent.

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