)
Markets opened marginally higher tracking firm gains in Asia with financials and select index heavyweights leading the gains. On Tuesday, benchmark share indices rebounded from their four-month lows amid a volatile trading sesion to end higher.
At 9:30AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 63 points at 20,324 and the 50-share Nifty was up 16 points at 6,038.
Asian stocks rebounded on Thursday. However, investors remained cautious ahead of the non-farm US payroll data due tomorrow.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei was up 0.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.5% and Straits Times was up 0.9%.
The Indian rupee was trading higher at Rs 62.38 to the US dollar compared to the previous close of Rs 62.58. Gains in equities helped improved sentiment in early trades.
BSE Consumer Durables, Metal, Oil and Gas, Bankex, FMCG and Healthcare indices were up 0.6-1% each.
In the financials space, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank were up 0.7-1% each. Mortgage lender HDFC was up 1.2% contributing the most to the Sensex gains.
FMCG majors ITC and HUL were up 0.6% each while index heavyweight Reliance Ind was up 0.7%.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has dipped 5% to Rs 153 on BSE after reporting a sharp 41% year-on-year (yoy) decline in net profit at Rs 695 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2013 (Q3) due to lower realization. The state-owned company had profit of Rs 1,182 crore in a year ago quarter.
Meanwhile, IT shares remained weak after Cognizant, the Nasdaq-listed company, gave a conservative revenue growth guidance for 2014 at a time when the industry was expecting it to be better in the wake of a rebound in the demand environment, and especially the better than expected show by some of its large Indian peers. Wipro, Infosys and TCS were down 0.5-0.7% each.
Hpwever, the broader markets outperformed the benchmarks, the Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 0.6% each.
Market breadth was positive with 770 gainers and 336 losers on the BSE.
