Markets open marginally higher

Markets have opened marginally in the green, following cues from Asian peers. The Sensex has opened up 43 points at 19,735. The index is up 60 points at 19,752.

Nifty is up 20 points at 5,955.

Financials and auto stocks are gaining this morning. FMCG is up in trades.

Bharti Airtel is the biggest gainer among Nifty stocks, and is up 1.7% at Rs 335. Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Auto have added 1.5% each to Rs 773 and Rs 1,662, respectively.

DLF, BPCL and BHEL have added around 1% each.

Kotak Bank, Tata Power, Ranbaxy and Tata Motors are the other gainers.

However, Power Grid is trading weak. The stock has shed 2% at Rs 97. Larsen & Toubro has slipped 1.7% to Rs 2,015.

Wipro, HCL Technologies and TCS - among the IT pack- is down around 1% each.

ACC, HDFC Bank and Cipla are also in red.

US markets slipped on Tuesday as clashes in Korea sparked investor concern. Europe's debt crisis worries continued to haunt market sentiments. The Dow dropped 1.3% to 11,036. The Nasdaq dropped 1.4% to 2,495.

Asian markets have recovered from Tuesday's low and are trading in the green. The Hang Seng has gained 1% at 23,136. Shanghai Composite is up 1% at 2,858. Nikkei, however, is down 1% at 10,039 after remaining closed yesterday. Meanwhile, Seoul Composite is down five points at 1,923. The Kospi is down marginally at 1,918.

The SGX Nifty is trading flat at 5,933.

On Tuesday markets slumped in India as Korean hostilities began. The Sensex dropped nearly 600 points in the day. However, it recovered some of its losses to end down 266 points at 19,692. Nifty ended down 75 points at 5,934.

"The market is now in a correction phase. The long term trend remains up. NIFTY is likely to face resistance around 6000 in case of rally", says Avinash Gupta, Vice President Research Equity, Bonanza Portfolio.

Markets may remain volatile today due to mixed cues from global indices. Investors may also refrain from taking positions ahead of the F&O expiry on Thursday.

"The trend deciding level for the day is 19625 / 5911 levels. If NIFTY trades above this level during the first half-an-hour of trade then we may witness a further rally up to 19908 – 20124 / 5997 – 6059 levels. However, if Nifty trades below 19625 / 5911 levels for the first half-an-hour of trade then it may correct up to 19409 – 19127 / 5849 – 5763 levels," says Angel Broking.