The markets have opened moderately in the green. Building on the 100+ point gains of the previous trading session, the Sensex has added 58 points at 18258 and the Nifty is quoting at 5480, higher by 13 points. The midcap index is at 7549, higher by 29 points and the smallcap index is at 9557, up 41 points.
Meanwhile, US stocks rose in thin trade on Wednesday as retailers' earnings and a report showing a slight improvement in private employment boosted optimism ahead of Friday's payrolls report. The Dow gained 44 points, or 0.4% to 10,680 and Nasdaq advanced 20 points, or 0.8% to 2,303. And the Asian markets have opened on a positive note; Hang Seng has gained 92 points and Nikkei has added 119 points.
Bharti Airtel is continuing its uptrend after seeing a retracement in the previous trading session. The telecom major is quoting at Rs 326, stronger by 1%, on the BSE. And the IT pack is seeing follow-up buying in this session. Infosys is quoting at Rs 2896, stronger by 0.9% at Rs 2896, TCS is quoting at Rs 878, higher by 0.9% and Wipro is at Rs 432, up three points. And index heavyweight RIL has hardened by 0.3% at Rs 1019.
On the other hand, ICICI Bank has weakened by 0.7% at Rs 963, RCom has shed 0.6% at Rs 175 and Hero Honda has lost 0.6% at Rs 1878.
The market breadth is positive. Out of 1330 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1004 advancing stocks as against 294 declines.