The country’s equity indices rose for the fifth straight session which helped it touch the highest level in more than a month. This was on speculation that the country?s economy is strong enough to ward off any global slowdown caused by Europe?s sovereign-debt crisis. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers for the fourth consecutive session.

Fitch Ratings on Monday raised the local currency debt outlook to ?stable? citing India?s ?strong growth prospects? and amid hopes that India?s fiscal deficit will be reduced. The country’s economic growth will accelerate to more than 8.5% in the year through March, buoyed by higher factory output, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday.

?India?s growth trajectory is intact,? said Kishor Ostwal, managing director of CNI Research (India). ?The fiscal deficit will go down and that?s very positive.? The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex rose 74.6 points, or 0.4%, to close at 17,412.8 while the broader Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was up 24.6 points, or 0.47%, at 5222.3.

On Tuesday, Nifty managed to close above the 5,200-mark which is a positive sign and we may see Nifty going in search of 5,290 and 5,330 levels, said a report by Geojit BNP Paribas.

According to BSE?s provisional estimates, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 590 crore, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 351 crore. FIIs have bought shares worth Rs 2,001 crore in the past four trading sessions. Of the BSE 500, 20 companies managed to hit their 52-week high.

Among its peers, the key benchmark equity indices in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan and China all gained. The Nikkei 225, Hang Seng Index and Jakarta Composite gained 0.08%, 0.05% and 0.12%, respectively. Shanghai Composite rose the most at 0.29%.

Back home, of the 30-share Sensex, 21 ended higher while 9 ended in the red. The breadth remained strong in the broader market throughout the trading session on the BSE with 1,650 stocks advancing compared with 1,186 declines. Realty, PSU and FMCG stocks advanced the most at 2.6%, 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively.

The NSE cash turnover on Tuesday was at Rs 14,307 crore, while the six monthly daily average is Rs 13,875 crore. Turnover in derivatives was Rs 1.02 lakh crore and the daily average for the past six months is Rs 83,283 crore.

India VIX, a volatility index based on the S&P CNX Nifty index option prices, declined 4.2% to 21.9.