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The benchmark indices have opened in the green, continuing from the momentum witnessed in the previous session, on the back of favourable cues from the Asian markets.
At 9.40am, the Sensex was at 28,306, higher by 108 points or 0.3% and the Nifty was just above the technically crucial support of 8,550 at 8,556, up 32 points.
The broader markets are doing better. The BSE Mid-cap index has hit a lifetime high at 11,117, higher by 0.6%, and the smallcap index has gained 0.5% each at 11,634 respectively.
The markets had staged a stellar rally on Wednesday, with the Nifty regaining 8,500 and Sensex zooming more than 250 points.
Meanwhile, on the global front, the US Fed Chair Janet Yellen signalled of a possible rate hike this year provided the labour market and the US economy is on track of improvement. The Greece parliament approved the austerity measures to keep Greece in the euro zone.
"The Sensex opened above its psychological 28,000 levels and traded firm throughout the day on Wednesday. The sentiment got support on account of buying in blue chip counters and developments in Iran. It gave the highest daily close of last two months and is holding well above its 200-DMA. Now, it has to hold above 28,200 levels to witness an up move towards 28,350 and 28,500 zones. However, if it fails to hold 28,000 level, then bears may drag the index towards 27,800 levels," points out a morning note from Anand Rathi Research.
Mindtree, DB Corp, Cyient, Delta Corp and Mastek will announce their numbers later in the day.
ECONOMY
Merchandise exports in June contracted 15.82% to $22.28 billion compared to $26.47 billion in the same month last year. This was for the seventh straight month that shipments from India witnessed a decline mainly on account of weaker demand largely due to crisis in China and Greece. In May, the rate of decline of exports was higher at 20.19%.
The government cut the price of petrol by Rs 2 per litre (excluding state levies) and diesel by Rs 2 per litre (excluding state levies). This makes it the second reduction in the fuel price this month as the prices were last revised on July 1.
RUPEE
The rupee opened lower in early trade on Thursday. It slipped 9 paise to 63.50 per dollar against the previous day's closing value of 63.41 a dollar.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian stocks were mostly higher on Thursday after the Greek parliament approved a bailout plan while the dollar stood tall after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen reinforced expectations for a U.S. rate hike. The key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and South Korea rose 0.1-1% each. The SET Compoite index, however, bucked the trend.
The US markets closed marginally lower on Wednesday. The Dow Jones fell 3 points to 18,050 and Nasdaq Composite dropped 5 points to 5,098.
SECTORS AND STOCKS
All the sectoral indices are in the green, with metal and oil stocks being the major gainers on the BSE.
Tata Steel, Axis Bank and HDFC are the leading gainers on the BSE, while Cipla, L&T and Gail have edged lower.
In the metal space, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Coal India and Sail have gained around 1% each.
In the oil space, BPCL, HPCL and IOC have gained about 1% each. RIL is, however, trading flat.
The market breadth is strong. Out of 1591 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1136 advancing stocks as against 399 declines.
