Sensex opens with a gain of 406.91 points

Mumbai, Jan 24: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index opened with a gain of 406.91 points at 17,920.98 and hovered near 18K level on positive note following conducive cues in global markets.

Sensex surged on the second straight day on sustained buying support in blue-chip index pivotal and touched a high of 18,185.10, gaining over 611 points from its previous close of 17,594.07 in the early trade. Similarly, National Stock Exchange's (NSE's) Nifty index surged over 155 points after opening almost flat at 5,208 in the morning session.

Most of Asian markets were in green on positive sentiments in US markets. US markets spurted yesterday. Back-home market breadth was positive on BSE with 1169 shares advancing as compared to 890 that declined, while 19 shares remained unchanged. Out of 30, 28 stocks from the Sensex pack were at gain.

ICICI Bank advanced 7.84 per cent to Rs 1241. It was the top gainer from Sensex pack in the early trade. State Bank of India was up 0.90 per cent and HDFC Bank gained 2.62 per cent.

It is being expected that a sharp cut in interest rates US Federal Reserve this week has increased the possibility of a 25 basis points repo rate cut by Reserve Bank of India. The Indian central bank unveils quarterly review of its monetary policy on Tuesday, 29 January.

As per provisional data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 3021.54 crore yesterday. While, Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs 1291.76 crore. FIIs were net buyers to a tune of Rs 4,040.22 crore in the futures and options segment.

UNI