Sensex trades higher on positive global cues; metals up

ALSO READ See Key Market Stats - Top Gainers/ Losers, Most Actives, Highs/Lows See how Global Markets are trading Indian ADRs Nifty BSE | NSE 31/05/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Nifty?

The Nifty opened strong following positive global cues post Obama's USD 3.8 trillion package for Job sector. The index was trading above the 4900 mark while the Sensex above the 16500 level. Commodities, technology, auto and realty stocks went up smartly.

At 9:02 hours IST - the Nifty was trading at 4943, up 43 points and the Sensex was at 16518, up 162 points. The CNX Midcap gained 100 points at 7440, as about 759 shares advanced while 34 shares declined on the NSE. 

Among the frontliners, Cairn, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Sterlite, Infosys, TCS, Unitech, DLF, Tata Motors (post good January sales numbers), Hero Honda (post good January sales numbers), M&M, HDFC and Jaiprakash Associates (post good January sales numbers) were the gainers in early trade.

However, NTPC was down 1.1%, post government fixed the floor price for the company's follow-on public offer at Rs 201/share.

Midcap & Smallcap space:

Shree Ashtavinayak shot up 20% and Reliance Media World was up 5%.

KRBL rose 7.5% and Gujarat NRE Coke gained 3.5%.

Moser Baer went up 3% and Clutch Auto rallied 5%.

Global cues:

Asian markets were trading higher. Nikkei surged 1.88% and Shanghai gained 1.26%. Hang Seng, Straits Times, Kospi and Jakarta were up 0.5-0.9%.

The US markets gained as Barack Obama proposes USD 3.8 trillion budget on job, including USD 100 billion additional stimulus.

Commodities gained as dollar index snapped a four-day winning streak.