Stocks staged a strong rally in Wednesday's early deals as the market men bet aggressively long on stocks in a pre-budget rally. Modest upticks in some Asian markets also helped local sentiment.

The Nifty rose 62 points to 8,459 points in the first hour of trade as it catapulted off the blocks after a restful previous session. The forthcoming budget for the year to March 2018 on February 1st has enthused investors to take large positions in front line stocks in a market that ended nearly flat during 2016.

Here are the major trading events of the day:
* The Sensex gained 170 points to 27,406 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange, its highest level since November 11. Hindustan Unilever was the top gainer on the index and Tata Steel was the top traded stock on the Sensex.
* BHEL, Tata Steel, Grasim, Hindustan Unilever and Hindalco gained 2.2-3.7% and were among 45 shares that advanced on the Nifty.
* Bharti Airtel, BPCL, Dr. Reddy's, NTPC and Coal India fell 0.2-1.4% and were among 6 shares that slipped on the Nifty.
* PVR, Tata Elxsi, Sun Pharma and United Spirits were the top traded shares by value on the NSE.
* Vedanta, NHPC and Reliance Communications showed hectic volume activity on the list of most active securities.
* Broader markets showed a strong uptick with the Nifty 100, 200 and 500 indices rising 0.7 percent each. Mid caps and Small cap benchmarks rose between 0.8-1.0%.
* All sectoral indices were in the green with gains ranging fro 0.3-1.9%. The metals index was the top gainer.
* Piramal Enterprises, JSW steel, Marico and Bharat Forge gained substantial ground in the first hour of trade.
* Emami, Havells, Oracle Finance and Ashok Leyland faced selling pressure in early deals.
* The mood was intensely bullish in the wider market where 1,130 shares advanced versus just 380 that fell.
* And such sentiment was equally, if not more, reflected in the derivatives market where 151 futures rose compared with 26 that fell.
* Kirloskar Industries, Agro Tech Foods and Philips Carbon are some of the major earnings expected in trade on Wednesday.