The Indian markets are trading on a flat note with the BSE Sensex at 16,743, up four points and the Nifty at 5,050, up 1 point.
However, the broader markets, opened strong with the smallcap and the midcap indices, up 0.1-0.2 percent
The markets are likely to remain cautious in the absence of cues from the Asian markets. Traders will also be wary of taking big positions ahead of RBI’s Monetary Policy review tomorrow.
Most of the Asian stock markets including South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are closed on Monday for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Back home, the combined market capitalisation of seven of the country's top-10 most-valued companies advanced by 57,340 crore last week, with energy majors RIL and ONGC the biggest gainers.
Analysts suggest given the positive momentum, the Nifty could very well rally to test its long-term moving average at 5,220. At 720 a-m Indian Standard Time, the SGX Nifty was trading at 5,070 levels, up 11 points.
Among the sectoral indices, Consumer Durables and IT up 0.9 percent each are the top gainers in the opening trades. However, due to the fall in Reliance Industries, the Oil & Gas index opened down nearly 2 percenta followed by Realty and Metal indices, down 0.2-0.4 percent.
The movers in the Consumer Durables space are Blue Star down 3 percent, Titan and Bajaj Electronics up 1.4 percent each.
The top gainers among the Sensex stocks are Tata Power, ICICI Bank, BHEL, Infosys, Bajaj Auto,Cipla and TCS up 1-3 percent.
On the other hand, the losers among the Sensex-30 are index heavyweight RIL down nearly 4 percent at Rs 764 followed by Coal India, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp and HDFC Bank down 1-2 percent.
The market breadth is positive as 712 stocks have advanced as compared to 318 declining stocks, on the BSE.