Markets on a firm ground

Infosys leads

Markets are trading on a firm note in the morning deals. The Sensex has advanced 89 points at 17,780 and the Nifty is at 5,384, up 18 points. The Nifty is facing stiff resistance at 5,400 levels.

Meanwhile, Infosys remains the top gainer among the Sensex stocks. It has advanced 3.3% to Rs 2,429 after the company won a harassment case filed by its employee Jack Palmer, after a US Judge dismissed his claims and threw out the case on Monday.

Cipla, Tata Motors, TCS, Mahindra & Mahindra, GAIL India, HDFC, Wipro and Bajaj Auto are also among the gainers from the Sensex pack.
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(Updated at 9.16 AM)

Markets have jumped in the opening deals on the back os buying visible in the heavyweight pockets. The Sensex has opened higher by 106 points at 17,797 and the 50-share Nifty has advanced 26 points to at 5,392.

Overnight, U.S. stocks were flat on Monday on signs of fatigue after a six-week run of gains as the European Central Bank quelled speculation about the form of market intervention that may be taken to stem the region's debt crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed 3 points, or 0.03 percent, to close at 13,272. S&P 500 Index dipped 0.07 points to 1,418.09 and The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.38 points to 3,076.

The Asian markets are also trading on a flat note. The Hang Seng, Nikkei and Shanghai are trading marginally higher, up 0.1% each.

Back home, Infosys is the top gainer among the Sensex stocks. It has advanced 2% to open at Rs 2,401. Maruti Suzuki has advanced 1.4% after the company said that it will reopen it Manesar plant today.

Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Cipla, ICICI Bank, SBI, BHEL, HDFC, ONGC, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries have also opened higher in trades today.

On the other hand, Hicndalco, Dr Reddy's Labs, ITC, Wipro, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India and Sun Pharma have opened lower.

On the sectoral front, IT index is the top gainer, up 1.4% or 79 points at 5,690. Auto, oil & gas, realty, power and bankex indices have also advanced 0.2-1% each.

At the same time, capital goods, healthcare, metal and FMCG indices have opened lower.

The broader markets are in-line with the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index is up 0.3% at 6,179 and the small-cap index is up 0.4% at 6,645.

The overall breadth is positive as 827 stocks are advancing while 339 are declining.