Indian shares opened up on back of positive global cues after US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took new stimulus steps to bolster the world's biggest economy.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex index rose 48 points to open at 19,404 while the National Stock Exchnage's Nifty-50 index gained 12 points and opened at 5,900.
U.S. stocks ended nearly flat on Wednesday, giving up most of the day's gains after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated that monetary policy won't be enough to offset damage from the "fiscal cliff."
The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 2.99 points, or 0.02 percent, to 13,245.45 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index inched up just 0.64 of a point, or 0.04 percent, to 1,428.48. But the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 8.49 points, or 0.28 percent, to end at 3,013.81.
Asian shares traded mixed on Thursday with Shanghai Composite falling 0.7% to 2,068,Hang Seng up 0.03% to 22,511 and Straits Times gained 0.23% to 3,149 while Nikkei rose 1.6% to 9,734.
The MSCI Asia Pacific index outside Japan rose 0.5% to 900.95 in morning trades.
Back home, auto, technology, real-estate and metal indexes rose while fast moving consumer goods sector led declines on BSE.
Among key Sensex stocks, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp gained 2% and 1% each while Wipro rose 1%. In banking space, ICICI and State Bank of India rose nearly 1% each.
The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices rose by nearly 0.4%.
The overall breadth is strong as 697 stocks have advanced while 292 stocks declined on the BSE.
