After witnessing a huge loss of over 300 points yesterday (Jan 15), Indian equities, today (Jan 16) opened the day positively after gaining 78.91 points at 9,125.65, as against its last closure in which it lost 323.75 points (3.45%).

Metal, oil & gas and banking stocks were in limelight.

A fair amount of buying was seen across midcap and smallcap segments. BSE Midcap and Smallcap index gained 0.96% and 0.62% respectively.

Asian stocks gained, lifting the region’s benchmark index from a 5-week low, as the yen dropped and an Intel Corporation report raised hope that an earnings slump for chipmakers may be easing.

At 10:05 a.m., the 30-share index Sensex stood at 9,174.49, up 127.75 points. It also touched a high of 9,174.49 and a low of 9,125.65.

Meanwhile the broad based Nifty gained 30.15 points at 2,766.85. It hit a high of 2,772.25 and a low of 2,724.20.

On Thursday, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) declared its Q3 results on a consolidated basis. It reported a marginal growth of 2.67% in net profit, which stood at Rs 13,620.60 million, as compared to Rs 13,266.70 million during the same period of the last year. Its total Income climbed up to Rs 71,050.40 million from Rs 60,413.00 million for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2007.

Market breath was positive, 465 stocks advanced against 166 declines, while, 13 stocks remained unchanged.

The top gainers in the 30-share index included Reliance Capital (2.51%), Reliance Communications (2.21%), Jaiprakash Associates (2.09%), Reliance Energy (2.05%), Tata Steel (1.92%), and Mahindra & Mahindra (1.86%).

ICICI Bank, Reliance Infrastructure, L&T, Mahindra & Mahindra, Sterlite Industries, Hindalco, Tata Power, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, SBI, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ITC, ONGC and BHEL also moved up.

On the other hand, the biggest losers in the Sensex were DLF (6.23%), Tata Consultancy Services (2.36%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (0.32%).