Indian equities were holding firm after a positive opening led by gains in IT, realty and metal stocks. Indices took support from the positive global cues but volatility cant be ruled out ahead August series F&O expiry later this week.

US markets closed up and Asian markets are positive. Asian stocks advanced, lifting the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to its highest level in more than a week, after US consumer confidence gained and American home prices fell less than economists estimated. We expect the strong momentum in domestic markets to continue till the end of the expiry.

For the day our markets are likely to open up, though some selling is not ruled out, said Niket Shah, associate research analyst, Institutional Equity, Religare Capital Markets.

At 10:50 am, National Stock Exchanges Nifty was at 4689, up 29.65 points or 0.64 per cent. The index shied away from hitting 4700 after touching an intra-day high of 4694.40. It touched a low of 4659.20.

Bombay Stock Exchanges Sensex was at 15775.50, up 87.03 points or 0.55 per cent. The 30-share index hit a high 15817.84 and low of 15737.23.

Trend deciding level for the day is 4638 / 15616. If Nifty trades above this level during the first half-an-hour of trade then we may witness a further rally up to 4694 - 4729 / 15808 - 15928. However, if Nifty trades below 4638 / 15616 for the first half-an-hour of trade then it may correct up to 4604 / 15496, said Angel Broking note.

BSE Midcap Index was up 1.44 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index gained 1.96 per cent.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE IT Index was up 3.12 per cent, BSE Realty Index gained 1.63 per cent and BSE Metal Index moved 1.17 per cent higher.

TCS (4.57%), Wipro (3.50%), Infosys Technologies (3.26%), DLF (2.28%) and Sterlite Industries (2.25%) were amongst the top Nifty gainers.

Hindustan Unilever (-1.73%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (-1.63%), ITC (-1.58%), Maruti Suzuki (-1.18%) and HDFC Bank (-0.86%) were amongst the losers.

Market breadth was positive on the Nifty with 39 advances and 11 declines.

US stocks headed higher Tuesday as economic data and the renomination of Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke strengthened investor confidence. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 30.01 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 9,539.29. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 2.43 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 1,028.00. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 6.25 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 2,024.23.

Asian stocks were also on the rise on the back of strong cues from Wall Street. The Nikkei moved up 1.41 per cent, Shanghai Composite gained 1.52 per cent, Hang Seng advanced 0.46 per cent and Straits Times inched up 0.17 per cent.