Markets open higher in early trade; Asian markets rally

Commentary

oi-Sunil

By Sunil Fernandes

Published: Monday, December 23, 2013, 9:30 [IST]

Markets opened the day flat in early trade after witnessing a spectacular rally on Friday. The Sensex was trading higher by 87 points, while the Nifty rallied 21 points in early trade.

Infosys was trading marginally lower after Balakrishnan resigned from the company, making it the eighth top exit at the company. The stock was down 0.6 per cent in early trade.

Among the other losers in trade were Maruti, Lupin and Tata Power. Nifty stocks that rallied in trade were BPCL, Reliance and Ultratech Cement.

Mid cap stocks also had a good session in trade with mid cap stocks like Apollo Tyres, Syndicate Bank and GMR witnessing sharp rallies.

In line with the broad markets, PSU banking stocks also saw buying interest with Canara Bank, Oriental Bank, IDBI Bank and Bank of Baroda gaining ground.

Reliance Industries which witnessed a sharp 4 per cent rally on Friday, following the gas deal continued to gain ground in trade.

Banking stocks were also doing well with gainers including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and IndusInd. Canara Bank was the top gainer from the banking space jumping more then 2 per cent.

Axis Bank was up 1.3 per cent as the company replaced Jindal Steel and Power from the Sensex. Oil marketing companies were trading strong after most of them hiked the prices of petrol.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were trading higher following strong closings across global markets on Friday.

The Shanghai Composite, The Japanese Nikkei and the Singapore's Strait Times were all higher in trade.

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