Markets open higher, OMCs lead the gains

Markets recouped yesterday's losses in the morning session on back of strength in global markets as investors started buying at lower levels. The Sensex was up 203 points, at 18,369 and the Nifty advanced 59 points, at 5.509.

Japan's Nikkei 225 surged as buyers crept in after the index fell as much 16% the previous day. Bank of Japan announced that they will inject $3.5 trillion into the system also lifted market sentiment. The index was up 4.4%, 8,981. While the markets have risen, radiation threat continues to weigh on Japan, the latest reports suggest new break out at Tokyo Electric Power's No. 4 reactor at Daiichi plant in Fukushima.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was trading flat after rising 0.5% supported by gains in coal shares and expectations of strong earnings from PetroChina. China's Shanghai Composite was up 0.5%, Singapore's Strait Times advanced 0.2%, Seoul Composite climbed 1.2% and Taiwan Weighted was up 0.6%.

Back in India, technical charts indicate that volatility may continue and Nifty may move in a range, ruling out a break out. Edelweiss in the morning note said, "the intraday volatility for the past few sessions suggests that Nifty is clearly in restricted to a trading range of 5300-5600 and is not likely to break past in the near future."

BSE Oil & Gas index was leading the gains, up 1.5% after oil prices eased. The Brent crude declined to $107.42 per barrel, to three week low as Japan crisis offset the Middle East unrest. Oil Marketing companies BPCL, HPCL and Indian Oil Corporation gained between 2-3%.

The BSE metal inde was up 1.4% following the surge in global metal prices. Welcorp was the top gainer, up 2.5%, Nalco was up 2.4% and Jindal Saw advanced 2.2%.

The Broader markets were also trading firm, the midcap and smallcap indices were up 0.9% and 0.85 each.

All the components on the Sensex were trading in the green except Hindustan Unilever, down 1.2%. Among the Sensex stocks, Reliance Infrastructure was up 1.8%, Sterlite Industries gained 1.7% and ICICI Bank was up 1.6%.