Software companies were being driven up by heavy buying from the market in general and the Nasdaq's modest rise yesterday also contributed to the glee.

Software companies surged in early morning trades on huge buying from all counters of the market including institutions as well as operators.

The top six software stocks were all moving strong in morning trades on Wednesday - Infosys Technologies (up 2.37 per cent to Rs 4,554), Wipro (up 1.49 per cent to Rs 1,604.90), Satyam Computer (up 1.57 per cent to Rs 264.95), Digital GlobalSoft (up 1.20 per cent to Rs 623.20), HCL Technologies (up 0.46 per cent to Rs 176.60) and i-flex (up 3.29 per cent to Rs 8467.25).

This strong trend in techs boosted the fortunes of the 30-share BSE Sensex as well, as it rose 22.04 points to 3,357.39 in morning trades.

The broad market including institutions (which are buying on selective counters like Infosys and Mastek) and operators are pursuing software stocks following a series of positive news flows.

Tech counters received a setback on market disappointment over Infosys' results. But the entire sector is now witnessing a technical recovery.

Yesterday, the BSE IT Index advanced 2.8 per cent to 1,601.36 from 1,557.59. In the two prior sessions (9 and 13 January 2003), the BSE IT Index lost 7.4 per cent from Rs 1,682.15.

Impressive results from Mastek and Geometric Software have also prompted optimism that second-line tech companies have done well in the previous quarter.

Gains in the US markets on Tuesday round off the factors contributing to the optimism.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 56.64 points to 8842.62) and the Nasdaq composite (up 14.95 points to 1460.99) closed modestly higher on Tuesday ahead of the announcement of quarterly numbers by tech major Intel.

US stocks are expected to see a mixed open Wednesday, after No. 1 chipmaker Intel reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit late Tuesday, but also offered some cautious forward-looking guidance.

Intel earned 16 cents per share in its fourth quarter, 2 cents better than expected and a penny better than it earned a year earlier. Revenue rose to $7.2 billion from $7.0 billion, when analysts were looking for $6.9 billion.

CMC (up 6.82 per cent to Rs 571), Ramco Systems (up 7.62 per cent to Rs 479.50), Hexaware Technologies (up 2.92 per cent to Rs 160.15), Mastek (up 2.89 per cent to Rs 579.10), Polaris Software (up 2.92 per cent to Rs 163.80), Geometric Software (up 2.50 per cent to Rs 475.60), NIIT (up 2.74 per cent to Rs 176.20) and Sonata Software (4.58 per cent to Rs 18.25) were other software stocks that did well in early morning trades.