Indian equities opened strongly on the back of positive global cues.

IT, FMCG and oil & gas stocks gained ground. BSE Midcap and Smallcap index rose more than 2% each.

The US Federal Reserve slashed bank rates by 50 basis points on Wednesday (Oct 29), and many other central banking institutions are likely to follow suit sooner than later.

The inflationary figures declined to 10.68% for the week ended October 18, as compared with 11.07 per cent for the previous week. The annual rate of inflation was 3.11 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago.

Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications are set to declare its July-Sep quarter results today.

Today (Oct 31), the 30-share index, BSE Sensex opened the day after making a gain of 317.15 points at 9,361.66, as against its last closure on Wednesday, in which it gained 36.43 points.

At 10.04 a.m., the 30-share index Sensex gained 492.37 points at 9,536.88 after hitting a high of 9,542.82 and a low of 9,361.66.

In the meantime, the broad based Nifty stood at 2,869.90, up 172.85 points, after touching a high of 2,872.40 and a low of 2,696.30.

The major gainers on the BSE Sensex included ICICI Bank, which gained 8%, Sterlite Industries (India) rose 7.73%, HDFC Bank up 7.34%, Tata Steel climbed 7.13%, Wipro zoomed 6.89% and Reliance Industries profited 6.78%.

There were no losers at the 30-share index.