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Markets opened on a positive note this Thursday with 50-share Nifty inching above key resistance level of 5,850 in the opening trades.
Trading, however, is expected to be volatile ahead of the April derivative contracts expiry and the central bank monetary policy next week.
At 9:15AM, the Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index Sensex rose 13 points at 19,192 while the National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty gained 20 points at 5,856.
Indian investors traded cautiously ahead of May 3rd monetary policy amid expectations that the Reserve Bank of India may cut interest rates by 25-50 basis points as WPI inflation eased.
Global risk appetite remained firm on hopes of aggressive monetary policy easing by the European Central Bank next week as economic data continued to hint towards sluggish growth.
Asian markets traded mixed with China’s Shanghai Composite Index down 0.4% to 2,208, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.4 % to 22,272, Singapore’s Straits Times fell 0.15% to 3,317 while Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.147% to 13,862.
Back home, the key sectoral indices such as banks, real-estate, capital goods, consumer durables, autos declined while IT , metal, oil & gas, healthcare sectors gained on the BSE.
Shares of Jet Airways surged 20% after Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways picked up a 24 per cent stake in Naresh Goyal-promoted local carrier.
The gainers included counters such as Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra rising 1% and 0.4% respectively, ICICI Bank and SBI gained nearly 0.6% each while laggards were ITC falling over 1%, ONGC dropped 0.5%, Sun Pharma was down 0.15% on the BSE.
The broader markets was positive with mid-caps and small-caps gaining 0.3-0.4% on the BSE.
The market breadth was firm. Out of 532 stocks traded, 376 stocks advanced compared to 128 declined on BSE.
