Mkts open positive; metals, infra, oil & gas exploration up

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The markets opened higher on the back of buying in shares of metal, realty, oil & gas exploration (as crude prices increased to USD 73/bbl) and select infrastructure companies.

At 9:56 am, the Sensex rose 106 points, to 14,891 and the Nifty gained 29 points at 4,419. The CNX Midcap 100 went up 53 points, to 5,624.

Among the frontliners, Sterlite, Reliance Power, Unitech, Suzlon, Idea Cellular, Cairn India, Nalco, Power Grid, Ranbaxy Labs, Tata Power, Tata Steel, Reliance Capital and Ambuja Cements were the gainers. However, BPCL, Cipla, HCL Tech and Wipro were mildly subdued.

Midcap space

United Spirits (USL) fell 2.5%. About 52.6 lakh USL shares changed hands on BSE at Rs 900/share (5.2% of equity). This block deal size stood Rs 473 crore. Shaw Wallace sold 5.2% stake in USL (Treasury Stock). In the second block deal, 72 lakh shares changed on NSE at Rs 886.30/share.

HCC shot up 5%, as the company's board approved Rs 1500 crore QIP (qualified institutional placement) issue and Bandra-Worli Sea will open today.

GMR Infra fell 4%, as the company struggled while raising money through its QIP.

Lanco Infratech gained over 3% as High court ruled in favour of the company in Lanco-PTC case.

Adlabs, Praj Industries and GVK Power were other gainers. However, Gujarat Alkalies and JM Financial were down post their numbers.

Global cues:

Asian markets were trading higher. Nikkei was up 1.9% and Straits Times gained 1%. Shanghai, Hang Seng, Jakarta, Kospi and Taiwan were flat in trade.

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