Markets have a strong opening

The markets have opened on a strong footing this morning, thanks to the positive cues from the global markets front.

At 9:20am, the Sensex was at 27291, higher by 186 points and the Nifty was at 8241, up 50 points.

The Sensex had rallied as much as 500 points on Friday due to the return of calm in global bond markets and the government’s accommodative stance on the contentious MAT issue. And the momentume has continued this morning.

The parliamentary proceedings will dictate the near-term trend. The much-delayed and anticipated goods and services tax (GST) bill is expected to be taken up in Rajya Sabha on Monday and this

The market participants would also closely watch the 27,000 mark as there could be more short-covering if the Sensex manages to hold on to this level.

RUPEE

The rupee has opened with marginal gains of 9 paise at 63.85 per dollar on Monday versus 63.94 on Friday.

GLOBAL MARKETS

The Asian stocks are having a good opening session, with the Key benchmark indices in China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea rising upto 1% each, thanks to the positive cues from Wall Street on Friday and China's action in rolling out its third interest rate cut since November. Globally, US markets closed sharply higher on Friday as investors welcomed a "goldilocks" jobs report.

EARNINGS CALENDAR

Adani Power, Bank of Baroda and Havells India are scheduled to announce their quarter ended 31 March 2015 earnings today.