Markets open higher, Realty and IT stocks gain

The markets have opened higher on back of renewed buying visible in the Realty, IT and capital goods stocks. The Sensex opened higher by 109 points to 15,973 and the Nifty regained the 4,800 levels and was higher by 34 points at 4,806.

The Asian markets were trading on a subdued note. Taiwan shed 34 points to 7,013, Nikkei lost 57 points to 8,398 and the Shanghai was at 2,359, down 6 points. The Hang Seng was closed on account of markets holiday.

Over night, US stocks closed significantly higher, despite clocking large losses through much of the day. By Tuesday's end investors ignored the S&P 500's early slide into bear territory and furiously bought back into stocks. The S&P 500 closed up 25 points, or 2.3%. The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 153 points, or 1.4%. The Nasdaq Composite edged 69 points higher, or 3% by the close.

Back home, most of the Sensex stocks have opened the day in the green. J P Associates was the top gainer, trading higher by 3.4% at Rs 71. Tata Motors gained 3% to Rs 152. Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Sterlite Industries, DLF, Larsen and Toubro, Infosys, ITC, Wipro, Mahindra & Mahindra and Jindal Steel also gained in the opening hour and were trading higher by 1%-2% each.

On the other hand, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India continued to remain under pressure consecutively for the second day both the stocks lost 1% each in the opening trades. Coal India and Cipla were also trading lower on the benchmark index.

On the sectoral front, BSE Realty index was the top gainer. The index added 1.3% or 21 points to 1,689. IT, Auto, Capital Goods, FMCG  and Metal indices also added 0.6%-1% each. Bankex and Oil & Gas indices were among the losers on the sectoral charts.

D B Realty was the top gainer among the realty stocks, up 8% to Rs 53. Anant Raj Industries, Unitech, HDIL, DLF, Sobha Developers and Godrej Properties also advanced 1.4%-3.1% each.

The broader markets were trading higher. The BSE mid-cap index advanced 0.6% to 5,973 and the small-cap index advanced 0.5% to 6,739.

The overall breadth is positive as 877 stocks are advancing while 404 stocks are declining.