Sensex opens on a strong note

The Sensex has opened on a firm note with the index up 193 points at 18,215 and the Nifty gaining 57 points to start the trading session at 5,474. In the broader markets, the smallcaps have opened gaining 0.7% at 8,356 and the midcaps added 0.8% to start at 6,756, underperforming the Sensex which is up 1%

In the Asian market,Hong Kong shares jumped higher with banks and property developers pacing the the advance in the wake of solid overnight gains on Wall Street and as concerns over Egyptian unrest eased. Trading volumes were relatively light ahead of a long holiday-weekend. The stock market is open only for a half-day and will be closed the rest of week for the Lunar New Year. The benchmark Hang Seng Index climbed 1.5% at 23,826.

Mirroring the US market rally, the other indices too had a positive trading session. The Nikkei is up nearly 2% and Jakarta Composite added 1%. Shanghai Composite, KLSE Composite, Straits Times, Seoul Composite and Taiwan Weighted up between 0.1% - 0.6%

Back home, all the sectoral indices opened in the green. Oil & Gas, Realty, IT, Bankex and PSU up 1% each leads the chart. Health Care and FMCG up 0.2% and 0.4% are the least gainers in the opening trades.

RIL, TCS up nearly 2% each are the top gainers in the opening trades followed by Sterlite, NTPC, Hindalco, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Jaiprakash Associates, Mahindra & Mahindra,Tata Motors, Reliance Communications, Reliance Infrastructure and Wipro adding 1% each.

Bajaj Auto down nearly 1% is the top loser followed by ITC, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Power and Tata Steel shedding 0.3% - 0.6%.

The market breadth is very positive.Of  the total 1473 stocks traded on the BSE, 1123 stocks have advanced while 308 have declined.