BSE sensex: Markets open in the green

Mumbai, Aug 27: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex today opened higher at 14,581.35 from it's previous close of 14,424.87 and then surged by 248.01 points to reach 14,672.88 in the early session, tracking a rally on Wall Street and short-covering ahead of the expiry of this month's derivatives contracts.

''The market showed strength at higher levels during the early session, after opening with a spurt today as buying continued. The early momentum came on the back of the rally on Wall Street during it's last trading session, triggered by surprisingly strong data on home sales and durable goods. Also short-covering ahead of the expiry of this month's derivatives contracts series on Thursday, aided the market's rise,'' market analysts noted.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty also opened with gains at 4,193.60 from it's previous close of 4,190.15 and then went ahead to spurt by 69.20 points to reach 4,259.35.

The market breadth was strong on BSE, as 1,545 shares advanced as compared to 373 that declined, while 53 remained unchanged. Among the 30-scrip Sensex constituents, 29 were up, while Ambuja Cements was the only loser, BSE records show.

SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, NTPC and Reliance Industries were the early leaders.

All the Asian markets advanced following the strong finish on the Wall Street last week. Hang Seng, Nikkei, Taiwan Weighted, Straits Times and Seoul Composite were all trading higher.

Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Standard&Poor's 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite index settled in the green.

Oil prices fell today boosted by worries over gasoline supplies in the US, the top energy consumer. US crude for October delivery fell 20 cents to USD 70.89 a barrel.

UNI