At 9:23 am ( IST), the BSE Sensex was 16,316, up 98 points points over the previous close. It had earlier touched a day’s high of  16,316  and aday’s low of 16,273. It opened at 16,289.

NSE Nifty was quoting 4,947, up 26 points over the previous close.It has earlier touched a day’s high of 4,948 and a day’s low of 4,931. It opened at 4,931.

Infosys, Wipro, NTPC,SBI, Tata Power, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, M&M, BHEL, ITC, Coal India were among the notable leaders in the Sensex and the Nifty.

HUL, ONGC, ACC and Ambuja Cement were among the notable losers in the Sensex and the Nifty.

The BSE Small-Cap index and BSE Mid-Cap index was trading flat.

FMCG,Oil and Gas, Auto,Consumer Goods,  IT , Teck, Metal, Realty, Bankex, Power, PS indices are the gainers.

The key Indian stock indices have opened with a positive bias, with the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty rising by ~0.5% each in early morning trade. The rise in Indian equities is being underpinned by a smart recovery in the Asian markets as well as the Indian Rupee. Investors have chosen to ignore concerns surrounding Spain's deteriorating financial conditions and a fragile banking sector.

The advance is quite broad based, as most sectoral indices are trading in the positive terrain while most index constituents too are trading higher. The INDIA VIX is slightly down.

 Auto, Banking, Metals, Power, PSU and Capital Goods indices are pacing the rise. Oil & Gas, IT, Pharma and FMCG indices are relatively weak.

The world markets seem to have a mind of their own if the divergent cues are indication. While the US markets closed in the red, their European counterparts managed modest gains. Asian benchmarks are mixed. The early gains may not sustain due to the usual apprehensions ahead of the F&O expiry. Results centric action is likely to continue for a while even as FIIs continue to be cautious. Q4 GDP data will be among the key domestic events to keep on one’s radar.

The Indian markets may have entered a consolidation phase after a steady decline over the past couple of months. The key indices notched weekly gains last week after a long time on hope of more bold policy action. The petrol price hike stays for now, and a possible upward revision in diesel is also on the cards. It may be a matter of when and not if, as the Centre moves to slash subsidies. A political backlash is a given in the current environment of rising inflation. It remains to be seen how UPA II handles this issue.

Although a big drop may not materialize, the bias remains negative. Rupee’s weakness, slowing growth, elevated inflation, widening deficits, policy impasse and eurozone debt troubles are the main pressure points.

The NSE Nifty formed an inside bar as it failed to move beyond the trading range of past two weeks. The Nifty has been struggling to move beyond the 4960 levels which earlier acted as a strong support. A move beyond the same could provide some relief.

Key Results Today: 3M India, Asian Hotels, Bajaj Electricals, Balrampur Chini, Bharat Forge, Bombay Dyeing, Britannia Industries, Coal India, Dredging Corp, Electrosteel Castings, Engineers India, Indian Hotels, Indian Oil Corp, Mcleod Russel, Monsanto India, Motherson Sumi, MPS, Natco Pharma, National Fertilizers, Neyveli Lignite, NMDC, Oil India, Sadbhav Engineering, Shree Rama Multi-Tech, Sundram Fasteners, Tilaknagar Industries and Trent.

Trend in FII flows: The FIIs were net sellers of Rs 6.23bn in the cash segment on Friday while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of Rs 4.34bn, as per the provisional figures released by the NSE.

The FIIs were net buyers of Rs 6.61bn in the F&O segment on Friday, according to the provisional NSE data.

The foreign funds were net buyers of Rs 484mn in the cash segment on Thursday, according to the SEBI figures.

No major global economic report is due today. The US markets will be closed for the Memorial Day holiday.