The markets opened in the green with the Sensex at 18,674, up 56 points and the Nifty started at 5,606, gaining six points. In the broader markets, both the smallcap and the midcap indices opened flat underperforming the Sensex which is up 0.3%.
Among the sectoral indices, Realty gained over 1.5% in the opening trades followed by the IT index adding 1%.Auto index which started in the red has turned flat. The movers in the realty space are Unitech, D B Realty, Indiabulls Real Estate and Ackruti City up 2% each.
Overnight,the US stocks extended losses led by technology shares as the market interpreted the Fed chairman's comments as suggesting there would be no immediate or near-term stimulus to boost the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.27%, at 12,457.The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.50%, at 1,311.The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 1.08%, at 2,767.
In the Asian markets, the Japanese stocks gained in early trading, shrugging off weak offshore leads, with technology stocks among the leading gainers.Export oriented scrips benefited from a softer yen in Japanese trading
However, Hong Kong stocks declined on weak overseas cues and a fresh Standard & Poor's warning of a possible downgrade of U.S. credit ratings, with shares of property developers leading the fall. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.4% in the opening trades but has regained and is up 0.1% at 21,970.
In Beijing, the markets started in the red as restrictions on home purchases have been extended to more cities. However, as the financial scrips improved China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.2% to 2,817.
Back home,the top gainers in the opening trades are TCS up 3.5% followed by DLF, Wipro, SBI, NTPC and Reliance Infrastructure gaining 1-2%.
Cipla,Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki down 0.6% each are the major losers.
The market breadth is positive. Of the total 1333 stocks traded on the BSE, 1004 stocks advanced while 311 declined.