Indian benchmark on Wednesday got off to an optimistic start; thereafter the benchmark indices slowly but steadily started gathering momentum and surged higher. In the afternoon session indices traded in a tight range, but in the last hour of trading session indices further capitalised on the momentum to end the session near days high. At the end of the day, the NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, surged higher by close to a per cent to settle above the crucial psychological level of 9,400, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index-Sensex gained over three hundred points and closed above the psychological 30,200 mark.After getting off to a weak start, the markets pared their early losses. In the end, the European markets ended the Wednesday’ session with a modest gain. The DAX of Germany climbed 0.07 per cent and the CAC 40 of France rose 0.05 per cent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.59 per cent, but the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.26 per cent.The Nasdaq Composite closed at a record for the fourth session in a row on Wednesday, the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 9 points to close at a record 6,129. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 33 points to end at 20,943 as the stunning firing of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey weighed on the market. The S&P 500 edged up 3 points to close at 2,400.  Most of the Asian markets are trading in positive territory on Thursday. Japan’s markets Nikkie 225 added 29 points. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 179 points. While China’s Shanghai Composite lost 16 points.At 8:16 am, SGX Nifty Index trading higher by 30 points at 9,448, indicating positive start for Indian indices.