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Benchmark indices are trading marginally higher in early trades tracking positive Asian cues.
By 10:05 AM, the Sensex was higher by 37 points at 21,070 mark and the Nifty gained by 12 points at 6,280 levels.
The market will remain volatile today as traders roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month December 2013 series to January 2014 series.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 40.67 crore on Tuesday, 24 December 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
On the global front, US stock markets remained closed on Wednesday for Christmas.
Tokyo's Nikkei share average climbed 0.9% to a more than six-year high on Thursday, with buying mostly by retail investors as tax-free investment accounts aimed at driving Japanese savings into stocks kicked off.
The Nikkei was up 145.99 points at 16,155.98 in mid-morning trade, after closing above 16,000 for the first time since December 2007 on Wednesday.
The government-sponsored investment plan, known as Nippon Individual Savings Account, will provide a five-year tax holiday on dividends and capital gains provided the money is invested in stocks, mutual funds or exchange traded funds.
Back home, the rupee is trading weaker at 61.91/92 versus its close of 61.79/80 on Tuesday. Further losses are likely to be limited as exporters will come in to sell dollars close to 62 levels.
On the sectoral front, BSE Capital Goods, Power, Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas, Auto and Healthcare indices have gained by 1% each. Apafrt from IT, all the major BSE sectoral indices are trading in positive zone.
The main gainers on the Sensex at this hour are Sesa Sterlite, ONGC, BHEL, Bharti Airtel, Tata Power, Cipla, Axis Bank, GAIL and Bajaj Auto, all gaining between 0.7-1.4%.
On the losing side, Hero Moto, HDFC, Wipro, TCS and ITC have declined between 0.2-1%.
Among other shares, Amtek Group companies - Amtek India and Amtek Auto have rallied over 8% each on acquisition of Germany's Kuepper group of companies.
Allahabad Bank rose 1.13% to Rs 94.25 after the bank said it has allotted 4.45 crore equity shares at Rs 89.72 per share to the Government of India on preferential allotment basis.
Apollo Hospitals Enterprises is trading higher by 2% at Rs 888 after the promoter family’s holding company PCR Investments has bought shares worth Rs 87.66 crore through open market.
The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up by nearly 1% each.
The market breadth in BSE remains firm with 1,083 shares advancing and 229 shares declining.
