The Sensex is now quoting at 17630, higher by 126 points and the Nifty is at 5289, up 39 points.
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(Updated at 0901am)
The May derivatives series has begun on a stable note. Building on the gains of the previous session and heeding the favourable global environment, the Sensex has strengthened by 90 points at 17593 and the Nifty has added 20 points at 5275 in opening trades. There is outperformance in the larger market space. The midcap and smallcap indices have added around a per cent each at 7183 and 9257 respectively.
The US markets had a good session after fears of contagion from the European debt crisis eased and US jobless claims dropped by 11,000 last week. The Dow gained 122 points and Nasdaq ended higher by 40 points. And taking a cue from Wall Street, the Asian markets have opened in the green. Hang Seng was stronger by 232 points and Nikkei was up 147 points in early trades.
The gainers list has a mixed look, with stocks ranging from commodities to realty hogging the limelight. DLF has strengthened by 1.7% at Rs 314, TCS has appreciated by 1.4% at Rs 770 and Tata Steel has gained 1.3% at Rs 641. Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and Sterlite are the other significant gainers. And index heavyweight RIL has edged up by 0.4% at Rs 1039.
On the losers front, ACC has weakened by 1% at Rs 888, Infosys has shed 0.4% at Rs 2693 and ITC has lost 0.1% at Rs 266.
The market breadth is positive. Out of 1410 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1206 advancing stocks as against 181 declines.
