The markets have opened mildly in the green, mirroring the trend across Asia. The Sensex is quoting at 16846, higher by 65 points and the Nifty is at 5057, up 23 points in early trades. The midcap and smallcap indices are quoting higher by 0.7% each at 6848 and 8580 respectively.
Asia has steadied after being hit hard in the recent past; Hang Seng was up 25 points and Nikkei was up 35 points around opening bell in our markets. Wall Street fell on Monday, taking the S&P 500 to its lowest close in seven months, as last week's payrolls figure continued to discourage buyers. The Dow fell 115.48 points or 1.16% to 9,816.49 and Nasdaq tumbled 45.27 points or 2% to 2,173.90.
Jaiprakash Associates (stronger by 1.2% at Rs 121), RCom (higher by 1.1% at Rs 178) and DLF (up 0.9% at Rs 266) are the leading gainers on the BSE. Bharti Airtel, SBI and Hindalco are the other top gainers. And index heavyweight RIL is trading flat, with a positive bias, at Rs 1010.
On the loser's side, India Oil Corporation, BPCL and HPCL have fallen 3% each, while ONGC, Oil India and GAIL India are trading over 1% lower after the government defered the decision on fuel price hike and deregulation.
The market breadth is strong. Out of 1062 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 804 advancing stocks as against 236 declines.
