Mkts open strong on good global cues, Nifty above 5K

Mumbai: The markets have rallied in the opening trade on strong global gues and did not react to 50-bps hike in CRR by RBI. Technology, metal, capital goods, power, realty, oil, FMCG and pharma stocks jumped up.

Market breadth is positive. Midcap and small cap stocks have moved up. On the global front, Asian markets were trading strong.

At 0956 hrs, IST the Sensex was up 198 points at 16,679 and the Nifty up 60 points at 5,018.

Satyam, HCL Tech, Rel Energy, Grasim, Nalco, Infosys, SAIL, Hindalco and Tata Steel were major gainers. Some reaction of 50 bps hike in CRR by RBI has seen in banking stocks. BSE Bankex opened flat and now trading marginally up.

Market breadth is pretty strong, 763 shares have advanced while 161 shares declined on the NSE.

Dabur Pharma went up over 13 per cent in morning trade as Fresenius bought 73.3% stake in the company for Rs 878 crore at Rs 76.50/sh and will make 20% open offer.

On the primary market front, Titagarh Wagons listed at Rs 604.90 as against its issue price of Rs 540 on the NSE.

Asian markets were trading higher. Japan's Nikkei rose 1.64% or 221.24 points at 13,697.69. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 2.35% or 568.92 points at 24,766.70.

Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted advanced 0.45% or 40.74 points at 9,115.08. Singapore's Straits Times was up 2.40% or 75.05 points at 3,199.92. South Korea's Seoul Composite added 1.69% or 29.95 points at 1,801.85.

US markets rallied on hopes that the worst is over for financials and surprisingly solid earnings posted by multinational companies in US. The Dow Jones closed at 12,849.36, up 1.81% or 228.87 points, the Nasdaq up 2.61% or 61.14 points to settle at 2,402.97.

Market cues:

· RBI hikes CRR by 50 bps in 2 phases to 8%

· Major results today: RIL, TCS, Satyam

· TCS, RIL results will come out around market closing

· MFs net sell Rs 259.2 cr in equity on Apr 16

· NSE F&O Open Interest up Rs 2,680 cr at Rs 67,066 cr

F&O cues:

· Futures Open Interest up by Rs 711 crore and Options Open Interest up by Rs 1,969 crore

· Nifty Apr Futures shed 28 lakh shares in Open Interest

· Nifty May Futures add 16 lakh shares in Open Interest

· Nifty Apr at 2-point premium, May at 7-point premium

· Nifty Open Interest Put-Call ratio at 1.22 Vs 1.24

· Nifty Puts add 18 lakh shares in Open Interest

· Nifty Calls add 19 lakh shares in Open Interest

· Nifty May 5000 Put adds 4 lakh shares in Open Interest

· Nifty Apr 5000 Put adds 3.6 lakh shares in Open Interest

· Nifty May 5100 Call adds 4.7 lakh shares in Open Interest

· Nifty Apr 5100 Call adds 3.7 lakh shares in Open Interest

· Stock Futures add 3 cr shares in Open Interest

· Stock Futures have added 9 cr shares in 5 days