Sensex opens with a bang, expected to breach 17,000 barrier today

Mumbai, Sep 25 (UNI) The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex today opened with a bang at 16,890.75, a gain of 45 points over it's last close of 16,845.83 and is surging in early trade to breach the psychological barrier of 17,000, reflecting the inherent strength of the Indian economy.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty also opened higher by around 7 points at 4,939.10 from it's previous close of 4,932.20.

However, information technology (IT) scrips extended their recent losses due to concerns arising from Rupee's surge. They derive a lion's share of revenue from exports and a rise in Rupee against the Dollar hits their revenue.

The early leaders include Bharti Airtel, Ranbaxy and ONGC among others.

It is pertinent to note here that the revised trading timing on the bourses due to outage becomes effective from today. The stock exchanges have extended trading timing by 45 minutes from today to October 9 due to loss of satellite connectivity during this period.

Trading will stop on NSE at 1125 hrs and re-open at 1210 hrs. The final closing will be at 1615 hrs, instead of 1530 hrs.

Asian markets were mixed today. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, China, and Indonesia were down by between 0.05 per cent to 0.87 per cent. Japan's Nikkei was up and Straits Times index in Singapore was also higher. Stock markets in South Korea and Taiwan were closed on account of public holidays.

US stocks fell yesterday as financial shares weakened on news that Germany's largest bank Deutsche Bank may take a big hit from sub-prime mortgage investments, while a landmark strike at General Motors raised concern about the economic outlook. The Dow Jones industrial average finished the day down 61.13 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 13,759.06. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index ended down 8.02 points, or 0.53 per cent, at 1,517.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 3.27 points, or 0.12 per cent, at 2,667.95.

UNI