Opening Bell: Benchmark indices open on a positive note; BSE IT Index falls over 1%

The benchmark indices on Tuesday piled up losses for the second straight session in the week on the back of a weak trend in global equities due to worries about economic recovery and inflation. Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 37.50 points or 0.23%, higher at the 16,136.50 level. On the global front, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Wednesday whereas Hong Kong stocks barely moved. On Wallstreet, stocks gave up more ground on Tuesday due to worries regarding rising inflation that would dim the corporate profits. Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 77.52 per dollar on Wednesday against Tuesday's close of 77.58.  

At the open, Sensex was up 287.85 points or 0.53% at 54340.46, and the Nifty was up 88.70 points or 0.55% at 16213.90. About 1178 shares have advanced, 459 shares declined, and 81 shares are unchanged. India VIX traded 3.68% lower at 24.69 level in the initial hour of the trading session. In the early minutes of trading session, the top gainers in Sensex were IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, Ultratech Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC whereas the top losers were Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, TCS, HCL Technologies and Wipro.   

In the broader markets, at 9.35 am BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap indices traded 0.04% and 0.12% lower, respectively. The top gaining midcap stocks comprised Bayer CropScience, Balkrishna Industries, Rajesh Exports, Hindustan Aeronautics and Alkem Laboratories whereas the top gaining small-cap stocks were Lumax Industries, Aster DM Healthcare, Titagarh Wagons, Kaya and Sequent Scientific. 

On the sectoral front, indices traded flat with the BSE IT Index falling more than 1%. The top stocks dragging the IT index are Affle India, NIIT, 63 Moons Technology, Mindtree and Birla Soft whereas the outperforming stocks are HCL Infosystems, Brightcom Group, Xelpmoc Design and Tech, Matrimony.com and Infibeam Technologies.