Markets firm in morning trades

The markets have opened in the positive, mirroring the gains in the US and firmness across Aia. The Sensex is quoting at 17589, higher by 103 points and the Nifty is at 5254, up 29 points.

The Dow added 115 points and the Nasdaq gained 32 points overnight. And the Asian indices are largely in the positive.

Bharti is the leading gainer on the Sensex, strengthening by 1.4% at Rs 324, and Reliance Infrastructure has added 1.3% at Rs 1137.

The IT stocks are up, thanks to the Wipro effect. Wipro is trading up by 1% at Rs 746, while Infosys is trading higher by 1.1% at Rs 2667 and TCS has gained 0.6% at Rs 785.
   
Wipro reported a 21.3% rise in its Q3 consolidated net profit to Rs 1,217.40 crore for the quarter ended December 2009 against Rs 1,003.90 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

On the other hand, Hero Honda has weakened 1.1% at Rs 1652, Sun Pharma has shed 0.5% at Rs 1480 and L&T has lost 0.2% at Rs 1639.

The market breadth is strong. Out of 1726 stocks traded on he BSE, there are 1365 advancing stocks as against 322 declines.