Washington, Mar 12: Wishful bettors, who make overly optimistic investments, not only harm themselves financially but contaminate the entire markets as well, say researchers.

The research team from the University of Texas at Austin and Cornell University showed how wishful betting could harm beliefs throughout markets, as other market participants assume that wishful bettors possess more favourable information than they do.

As a result, investors who initially held accurate beliefs become overly optimistic about stock values.

After a two-day break, the Sensex advanced in early trade in a catch-up rally because of continued buying action witnessed IT and FMCG stocks.

Industrial output data is likely to be declared today.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index gained 0.56% and 0.52% respectively.

Sudhanshu Pandey, technical analyst with LKP Shares, said, “The markets are witnessing a technical bounce. Investors should avoid bottom fishing at this stage.”

Tokyo  - Stocks in Tokyo fell in Thursday morning trading when investors sold shares to lock in profits from the previous day's gains.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 79.02 points, or 1.07 per cent, to 7,297.1 after closing 4.55 per cent higher Wednesday.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also fell 15.93 points, or 2.21 per cent, to 706.35, a day after rising 2.67 per cent after surges on Wall Street and hopes for stabilization in the financial industry.

New York  - US stocks finished their biggest two-day rally since New Year's on Wednesday, inching upwards as JPMorgan Chase & Co joined Citigroup with an optimistic report on profits and sparked further speculation that the financial crisis may be waning.

JPMorgan Chase shares climbed 4.6 per cent after CEO James Dimon said that his bank, too, was profitable in January and February, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Hong Kong  - Hong Kong shares climbed 2 per cent Wednesday in a second consecutive day of gains spurred by the recovery in the price of HSBC shares.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index added 236.61 points, or 2.02 per cent, to close the day at 11,930.66. Turnover was 44.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (5.76 billion US dollars.)

The rise was led by a 1.99 per cent increase in HSBC shares which at the start of trading jumped 11.7 per cent higher, pulling the index up by 4.6 per cent in the opening minutes.

Seoul  - Shares surged 3.2 per ce