Markets open marginally higher; Nifty reclaims 8,600

Markets have opened marginally higher with IT and select bank shares leading the gains in early trades. Some volatility is expected later in the session ahead of the RBI policy meet tomorrow.

At 9:35AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 64 points at 28,758 and the 50-share Nifty was up 20 points at 8,609.

At 5.3% GDP growth for the July-September quarter is better than street expectations but lower than the 5.7% growth of the last quarter which has increased the clamour for a rate cut from RBI though the central bank may defer any such measure to the next policy review meeting.

The release of HSBC manufacturing PMI data for November on Monday and HSBC India services PMI on Wednesday would also help shape directions.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 935.86 crore on Friday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Asian markets are largely trading weak with the notable exception of Nikkei index which has gained around 0.8%. According to HSBC manufacturing PMI data for the month of November, there is a modest recovery in the Japanese economy. The final Markit/JMMA Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) was 52.0 in November. Chinese shares are trading mixed with Hang Seng losing close to 2% and Shanghai Composite index gaining 0.6%.

Overnight, US stocks ended mostly flat in a holiday-shortened session on Friday, but major indexes rose for a sixth straight week. The Dow Jones industrial average ended flat at 17,828, the S&P 500 lost 0.2% to 2,067.56 and the Nasdaq Composite closed flat at 4,791.63.

Consumer Durables index was the top sectoral gainer in early trades up 4.5% followed by Healthcare, Auto and IT sectors.

Weakness in the rupee has fuelled demand for IT stocks. Among the IT majors, TCS, Infosys and Wipro were up 0.4-1.1% each. Infosys is trading at all-time highs as the stock will be traded ex-bonus from tomorrow.

Sun Pharma was up 1.2%. Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has approved the proposal of the Company for issuing equity shares of the Company to the non-resident investors of Ranbaxy Laboratories pursuant to its merger with Ranbaxy. Dr Reddy's Labs and Cipla were up 0.6-0.8% each.

Auto stocks firmed up ahead of November sales numbers. Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, M&M and Bajaj Auto were up 0.4-1% each.

Other gainers include, SBI, ICICI Bank and ITC among others.

Among other shares, Shares of jewellery makers have rallied by up to 20% in early morning trade on BSE after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased gold imports and scrapped 20:80 scheme. Gitanjali Gems, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri (TBZ), PC Jeweller, Tara Jewels, Titan Company and Thangamayil Jewellery have rallied between 7-20% on the BSE.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 0.4% each.

Market breadth was strong with 966 gainers and 500 losers on the BSE.