From correspondents in Maharashtra, India, 11:00 AM IST

The Indian equity markets, which opened Wednesday with a positive gap after two days of battering, were firm in early trade, tracking strong cues from other Asian markets.

The 30-share benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, opened with a gain of 129.43 points at 15,018.68. Ten minutes into trading, it reached 15,084.70 points, a a gain of 195.45 points or 1.31 percent from its closing figure Tuesday

At the same time the S and amp;P Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange was trading at 4,497.80 with a gain of 48 points or 1.08 percent from its last close.

The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1,060 shares advanced, 273 declined and 15 remained unchanged.

BHEL, Reliance Infrastructure and Tata Motors were among the gainers while ITC and Hind Unit Ltd were among the losers in initial trade.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)