Markets advance on firm global cues

Power and oil & gas sector lead gains

Indian shares opened on a positive note tracking firm Asian markets. The Sensex has advanced 11 points to 18,529 and the 50-share Nifty has gained 4 points to 5,631.

Global risk appetite inproved after surge in manufacturing output from China and the United States raised hopes that the global growth recovery is gaining momentum.

The Hang Seng advanced 0.3% or 70 points at 21,813, Nikkei advanced 1.56% or 144 points at 9,366, Straits Times rose 3 points at 2,989 and the Taiwan Weighted gained 174 points to 7,279.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed, with a rise of 0.2 percent.

On Thursday, the U.S. stock market were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, and today it will close early at 1 p.m.

On the domestic front, power, consumer durables and oil & gas sectors on BSE lead gains while Healthcare and Realty le dthe declines.

Among gainers, HDFC, country's biggest mortgage lender, gained 1% while Hindustan Unilever rose 0.7% on the BSE.

Cipla, Sun Pharma dropped nearly 1% each after the Cabinet today endorsed the recommendations of a Group of Ministers’ (GoM) on a revised National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy, giving shape to a long-pending issue.

The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices rose between 0.07-0.3% each.

The overall breadth is positive as 564 stocks have advanced while 340 stocks declined.