Markets open up on Asian cues

Markets have opened in the green, mirroring gains in the US and Asian markets. The Sensex opened at 19,560 and touched a high of 19,601. The index thereafter started paring some of its gains and is now up 59 points at 19,519.

The Nifty is up seven points at 5,873.

Markets are expected to be volatile today, owing to the derivatives expiry. Investors will also be cautious on banking stocks after news of CBI raiding financial companies came on Wednesday.

Wall Street rallied as US stock investors put aside worries about swirling global problems, turning to improvement in the labor market and signs that consumers are ready to open their wallets ahead of the biggest shopping day of the year. New claims for unemployment benefits hit their lowest level in more than two years last week while consumer spending rose for a fourth straight month in October, suggesting the economy is nearing a self-sustaining recovery. The Dow jumped 150 points or 1.3% to 11,187 and Nasdaq Composite gained 48 points, or 1.9% to 2,543.

Asian markets are trading in the green on cues from US peers. However, Korean markets are trading weak as the hostilities between the two nations continue. The Hang Seng is up 0.5% at 19,560. Shanghai Composite has surged 1% at 2,887.

On Wednesday, Sensex dropped 231 points and Nifty slipped 69 points. Sudden news of CBI raids in the bribes-for-loans scam took the markets lower.Officers of top management and middle management of various public sector banks and financial institutions viz. Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, LIC and LIC Housing Finance were receiving illegal gratifications from the private financial services company who were acting as mediators and facilitators for corporate loans and other facilities from financial institutions, the CBI said.

CBI arrested Ramchandran R Nair, chief executive officer of LIC Housing Finance for improper loan disbursals and Rajesh Sharma, chairman of MMFS. It also arrested LIC's secretary (investments), Naresh K Chopra, Bank of India general manager R N Tayal, Central Bank of India director Maninder Singh Johar and Punjab National Bank deputy general manager, Venkoba Gujjal.

Names attached to the bank-bribery scam have crashed in morning trades. Money Matters has slumped 20% to Rs 425. LIC Housing Finance has crashed 9% to Rs 971. Bank of India is down 3% to Rs 432. Punjab National Bank has shed 5% at Rs 1,205.

Realty index has slumped 2.6% to 2,959.

PSU, power and capital goods are tradig in red. At the same time, IT and auto indices have gained 0.8% each to 5,987 and 10,198, respectively.

PowerGrid FPO has been listed with a 2% discount at Rs 95. The government divested 10 per cent of its 86.36 per cent stake in PowerGrid Corporation through the follow-on public offer, while the company offered an equal percentage of fresh equity.   
The government raked in about Rs 7,575 crore from PowerGrid's share sale programme.