Sensex Gains Over 300 Points; Nifty Above 18,250

The domestic stock markets have opened in the positive, post the downturn witnessed in the past three sessions, due to buying interest across the board. At 9:18 am, the BSE Sensex is trading at 61,202, higher by 280 points or 0.43 per cent and the NSE Nifty is at 18,248, up 74 points or 0.41 per cent. The broader markets are also trading in the positive, with the BSE Midcap index and BSE Smallcap index  gaining 0.4 per cent each.

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose in Friday morning trading as shares of China Evergrande Group surged in Hong Kong following media reports that the embattled developer is set to pay off a coupon payment on a dollar-denominated bond. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.82 per cent, Topix index gained 0.52 per cent and South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.05 per cent.

Global stock indexes mostly climbed and the S&P 500 posted a record closing high on Thursday, helped by gains in consumer discretionary and technology shares. The S&P 500 gained 0.30 per cent and Nasdaq Composite added 0.62 per cent. However, the Dow Jones fell 0.02 per cent.

On the earnings front, Reliance Industries will announce its September quarter results later in the day. HDFC Life Insurance, Yes Bank, Federal Bank and Hindustan Zinc will also declare their Q2 numbers today. And ICICI Bank will announce its quarterly earnings on Saturday.

On the stock-specific front, HDFC, Titan, Bajaj Finance and Tech Mahindra have gained 1-2 per cent each on the BSE. Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel are the other significant gainers in the BSE pack. And index heavyweight Reliance Industries has edged higher b 0.1 per cent ahead of its results scheduled later in the day.

On the other hand, Axis Paints has extended its previous day's losses by another 1 per cent to op the losers list on the BSE. NTPC, Nestle and ICICI Bank are the other losers.