Opening Bell: Sensex, Nifty soar on positive FII sentiments; Nifty Bank above 30,000 levels

On account of positive foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and muted global indicators, the Indian indices trade flat in the early morning session on Thursday. The BSE Sensex rose 123 points to 38,255 levels while the 50-stock Nifty rose 35 points to 11,480 levels. The Nifty Bank index, which broke its all-time high yesterday rose 44 points to 30.064 levels.

Prakash Pandey, Director & Head of Research at Fairwealth Securities told Zee Business online, "Market is likely to remain flat, following the muted cues from global markets. We are hoping a 25 bps rate cut next week, that will protect any major downside in the market. So any dips towards 11,350 to 11,380 will be a buying opportunity."

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Realty stock led the bull run on Dalal Street as the BSE realty index rose around 0.64 per cent in early intraday trade on Thursday. Realty major DLF rose around 2.94 per cent, shares of Godrej Properties surge near 1.8 per cent, Indiabulls Real Estate stocks went up 1.7 per cent, Sobha Developers counter rose 1.4 per cent, Housing Development & Infrastructure scrip rose 1.35 per cent while Prestige Estates Projects shares soar around 1 per cent.

Following the realty stocks rally, BSE power index added around 0.44 per cent today. Index major GMR Infr went up 1.8 per cent, JSW Energy shares added more than 1.5 per cent, Reliance Infrastructure stocks soar 1.8 per cent, Adani Power counter went up 1.4 per cent, CG Power and Industrial Solutions stock jump 1.15 per cent while NHPC and NTPC jump over half per cent.

In banking sector Yes Bank rose more than 2 per cent, Bank of Baroda stocks rose around 0.78 per cent, State Bank of India and Federal Bank counters added near 0.71 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank shares went northward around 0.6 per cent while ICICI Bank and City union Bank stocks rose around 0.4 per cent.

Following the muted global cues the Asian bourses had to undergo choppy trade in early morning session. Japanese Nikkei 225 shed around 1.43 per cent, South Korea's Kospi went down more than half a per cent, Shanghai index went southward near 0.26 per cent while Hang Seng slipped around 0.07 per cent in the early morning intraday trade on Thursday. Australian index FTSE 100 also turned red by near 0.03 per cent.