Markets open higher as crude declines

Mumbai: Markets have started the trade on a positive note as crude declined to USD 110 a barrel in Monday’s trade. Buying is seen in banking, oil, capital goods, realty, power and technology stocks.

At 10 am, the Sensex rose 124 points at 14,622 and Nifty gained 32 points at 4,380. BSE Midcap rose over 1%.

Amongst frontliners, ICICI Bank, HDFC, SBI, Reliance Industries, BPCL, ONGC, Reliance Communication, Reliance Infrastructure, DLF, Unitech and Infosys have gained. However, Ranbaxy Labs, Tata Motors and Cairn India lost ground.

Ranbaxy Labs plunged over 8% as Monday was last day for cash delivery to tender in open offer. Ranbaxy open offer will close on September 4.

Great Offshore shot up 3% as the company has bought 2 Andhra-based companies for Rs 160 crore.

PBA Infrastructure received order worth Rs 122 crore. The stock surged over 17%.

Rupee has hit 18-month low against dollar. It is trading at 44.21 a dollar.

Crude has declined by 4% and trading at 4-month lows at USD 111 a barrel.

US markets were shut on Monday for the Labour day holiday.

Asian markets were trading lower barring Nikkei. Shanghai, Hang Seng, Jakarta Composite, Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan Weighted lost ground. However, Nikkei was up 0.21%.

Market cues:

· Crude slips to $111/bbl as Gustav threat eases

· FIIs net sell $63.7 mn in equity

· MFs net buy Rs 398.4 cr in equity

· NSE F&O Open Int up by Rs 2,037 crore at Rs 65,136 crore

F&O cues:

· Futures Open Int up by Rs 125 crore, Options Open Int up by Rs 1,912 crore

· Nifty Futures shed 2.5 lakh shares in Open Int, at 2-pt premium

· Nifty Open Int Put-Call ratio at 1.33 Vs 1.37

· Nifty Puts add 16.7 lakh, Calls add 18 lakh shares in Open Int

· Nifty 4300 Put adds 5.8 lakh shares in Open Int

· Nifty 4400 Call adds 5.5 lakh shares in Open Int