Markets open higher on firm global cues

Markets opened higher on Wednesday tracking gains in Asia and overnight rally on the Wall Street led by index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank.

At 9:30AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 47 points at 19,486 and the 50-share Nifty was up 15 points at 5,874.

Asian shares were trading firm but came off their day highs after data indicated that Chinese exports declined for the first time since January 2012, raising worries about that the world's second largest economy is slowing down.

Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.1%, Singapore’s Straits Times gained 0.5% while China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.4% and Hang Seng rose 0.4%.

Overnight, US stocks rallied on expectations of better-than-expected earnings from large corporations. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 75.65 points, or 0.50 percent, to end at 15,300.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 11.86 points, or 0.72 percent, to 1,652.32, the highest close since the end of May. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 19.43 points, or 0.56 percent, to close at 3,504.26.

Investors are now keenly awaiting the US central bank minutes from its June policy meeting and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech later in the day to get a clear perspective on US growth recovery.

According to the technical expert Rex Cano, “The Nifty may face near resistance around 5,850, and far-off hurdle at 5,900. On the downside, fresh weakness can be expected on break of 5,750”.

BSE Consumer Durables index was the top gainer among sectoral indices up 0.9% followed by Realty, Bankex, Power, IT and Capital Goods indices.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank were among the top Sensex gainers along with TCS, L&T, SBI and Infosys.

In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 0.3% each.

Market breadth was positive with 526 gainers and 204 losers on the BSE.