Indian markets settled on a strong note on Wednesday on hopes of fresh stimulus in Eurozone and positive Asian cues. Oil & gas, auto and IT stocks gained ground whereas realty stocks registered a fall.

At the close, the benchmark 30-share index, BSE Sensex gained 117.34 or 0.44% at 26,560.15 with 21 components posting rise. Meanwhile, the broad based NSE Nifty went up by 31.30 or 0.40% at 7,936.05 with 29 components posting rise.

Top gainers were ONGC (2.31%), ICICI Bank (2.05%), Tata Motors (1.70%) and Hero Motocorp (1.61%).

Major losers were SSTL (1.67%), NTPC (1.45%), BHEL (1.29%) and HDFC Bank (0.70%).

The BSE Mid and small caps outperformed their larger counterparts gaining 0.73% and 0.79% respectively.

The Oil & Gas index was at 11,067.88, up by 92.23 points or by 0.84%. The Auto index was at 17,249.98, up by 139.02 points or by 0.81%. The IT index was at 10,143.45, up by 75.49 points or by 0.75%.

On the other hand, the Realty index was at 1,760.99, down by 24.04 points or by 1.35%.