Indian markets on Wednesday got off to an optimistic start in the morning trade as investors were largely influenced by the supportive leads from Asian markets. Thereafter, indices showed signs of consolidation and whirled in a tight band for most part of the session. However, the key gauges suffered a setback in the last leg of trade as sudden bouts of profit booking emerged in the markets after RBI surprised the market with no repo rate cut despite wide expectations of a rate cut, post which the indices could not show any kind of potent recovery. Finally the NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, declined by half a per cent to settle just above the crucial 8,100 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index Sensex deposed over one hundred and fifty points and closed below the psychological 26,300 mark.European markets closed sharply higher on Wednesday with shares of Germany leading the region. The DAX closed higher by 1.96 per cent while London’s FTSE 100 was up by 1.81 per cent and France’s CAC 40 was up by 1.36 per cent.U.S stocks jumped to record levels and bond prices climbed on Wednesday as investors prepared for the European Central Bank to signal an extension of its bond-buying at its Thursday meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 297.84 points to finish at 19,549.62, S&P 500 climbed 29.08 points to 2,241.32 and Nasdaq Composite rose 60.76 points to 5,393.76, closing just a few points below its all-time high.Asian stocks opened higher owing to a record close for the U.S benchmark, and expectations that the European Central Bank will extend its bond buying program beyond the March deadline has fuelled the rally. Hang Seng is trading higher by 0.84 per cent followed by Nikkei 225 which is up by 0.77 per cent and Shanghai Composite is up by 0.15 per cent.   At 7:50 am, SGX Nifty was trading higher by 0.80 per cent to 8208.50, indicating a positive start for Indian equities. Further cues for the market will come in from the ECB policy meet.