Markets open on a strong note; Nifty above 6,300

ICICI Bank, Infosys and ITC among the top gainers in opening trades

Markets opened on a strong note with the Sensex up 93 points at 21,167 and the Nifty gained 28 points to open above the 6,300 mark at 6,306. The ones leading the opening gains were ICICI Bank, Infosys and ITC.

The broader markets gained in the opening trades with the midcap index up 0.4% and the smallcap index gained over 1%, both outperforming the BSE benchmark index which was up by 0.2%.

Overnight, U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday, with the Dow ending at a record high for the sixth straight day, although trading was light following the Christmas holiday.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.75%, to end unofficially at 16,480. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.47%, to finish unofficially at 1,842. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.28%, to close unofficially at 4,167.

The S&P 500 also ended at an all-time closing high.

Asian markets were struggling to match the performance of Wall Street on Friday even as Japanese economic data impressed and the dollar tested the 105 yen barrier for the first time in five years.

Tokyo's Nikkei started well enough but the early six-year peak attracted profit-takers and nudged it 0.4% lower.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan managed to add only 0.1%.

Back home, barring the auto index, all the sectoral indices started in the positive territory.

Consumer Durables, Realty and Capital Goods indices up 1% each were the top gainers followed by Bankex, Metal, IT, Teck up 0.5-0.9%.

Mahindra & Mahindra down 0.4% along with Tata Power, BHEL, ONGC, Gail India and Maruti Suzuki losing 0.1-0.2% were the only losers among the sensex-30 in opening deals.

Among the gainers were Sesa Sterlite, SBI, L&T, ICICI Bank and Infosys up 1-2%.

Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Coal India, ITC, Tata Steel, Hindalco, TCS, Dr Reddys Lab, Hindustan Unilever and Wipro which added 0.5-0.8% were the other prominent gainers.

In individual names, Indraprastha Gas was up 3% at Rs 273 on reports that the company has increased prices of compressed natural gas (CNG) in Delhi by Rs 4.50 per kg and Rs 5.15 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.

Because of the strength in broader markets, the BSE market breadth was very positive. 844 stocks advanced while 258 stocks declined.