Mumbai, April 24 (IANS): The Nifty remained firm for the fourth day and closed with gains of 34 points at 22,402 levels, while Sensex closed 114 points higher at 73,853 levels on Wednesday.

The majority of the sectors ended in green with buying seen in metals, healthcare, and realty stocks, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Metal stocks are witnessing fresh buying amid a rise in commodity prices, improving Chinese economy, and the expectation of healthy demand ahead, he said.

Also, global markets turned positive with easing tensions in the Middle East and declining oil prices.

“Following its global peers, healthy domestic macro data and in-line Q4 results led to an up-move in the Nifty. We expect this bullish momentum to continue in the markets. Further, a sharp decline in India's VIX amid the start of elections indicates lower market volatility in the near term. Niche sectors would continue to remain in momentum,” Khemka said.

The Indian markets lagged their Asian peers as Q4 earnings remained largely subdued with weak results from IT firms and a few index heavyweights, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

However, buoyed by strong manufacturing and service sectors, the Indian composite PMI hit a multi-year high, reflecting domestic resilience, and bringing some buoyancy to the broad market.