The Indian markets have started on a firm note with the Sensex starting up 85 points at 18,745 and the Nifty opening at 5,627 up 19 points.The smallcap and the midcap index too had a good start. The smallcap opened at 10,255, up 0.7% and the midcap index gained 0.8% at 8,021, outperforming the benchmark index at 0.4%
Earlier, the US stocks rose as investors latched onto positive news out of Europe in the latest in a string of low-volume sessions suggesting little confidence in market direction.In sync, the Asian markets too opened in the green this morning.The Hang Seng has added 93 points to 21,182. Nikkei has gained 0.8% at 9,096.
On the sectoral indices, Realty and Consumer Durables up 0.8% leads the charts followed by Bankex, Metal and Auto. Yesterday's gainers IT and Teck have started at the bottom of the chart down 0.09%
SBI, Tata Power, Bharti Airtel,Hindustan Unilever and Hindalco up 1% each are the top gainers on the Sensex in the opening trades.
ACC down 1%, ONGC,Sterlite,Reliance Communications and Infosys shedding 0.1% - 0.5% are the losers on the Sensex.
Market breadth is very positive. 1453 stocks have advanced while 394 have declined.