Markets rebound after a soft start

The markets have firmed up after a soft start this morning. The Sensex opened a point lower at 17,118, and soon touched a low of 17,089 owing to weak cues from the global markets.

The markets however have rebounded into the positive zone owing to fresh buying interest. PSU stocks owing to the divestment buzz are in limelight. Auto stocks and capital goods stocks also have moved up.

The Sensex is now up 71 points at 17,191. The NSE Nifty is up 14 points at 5,132.

Among the index stocks - Hindalco has gained 1.6% at Rs 144. ACC, Hero Honda and Grasim have advanced over 1% each to Rs 825, Rs 1,691 and Rs 2,423, respectively.

Maruti, Sun Pharma and Jaiprakash Associates are also up around 1% each.

Bharti Airtel, however, is down 1% at Rs 329.