It's been a good start to the day so far at the markets

The Nifty traded above the crucial 8,400-point resistance on Thursday as traders took benefit of the end of the Futures and Options expiry and went long on stocks after the US Fed's overhang ended. Broader indices such as the CNX Mid Cap Index and the CNX Small Cap Index posted smart gains that exceeded those on the Nifty.

The Nifty rose 41 points to 8,416 points in early deals. The Advance-Decline Ratio was at 42/8 with Cipla, HDFC, Bosch and Axis Bank showing strong upticks in initial trades. This compared with Tata Power, Ambuja Cements and ITC that fell below their previous close. The Bank Nifty rose 68 points to 18,391. All sectoral indices traded with strong gains with the CNX Auto Index rising the maximum, gaining 0.8 percent.

And on the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex rose 135 points to 27,698 points in early morning deals on Thursday. Stocks that led gainers included Tata Motors, Dr. Reddy's, HDFC and Bharti Airtel while Ambuja Cements, ITC and TCS were on top of the losers’ list. As a consequence, the Advance-Decline Ratio stood at 20/10.

The markets were equally bullish in the futures and options space with DLF, Cipla and Arvind Mills being on top of the gainers’ list versus Sun TV, Just Dial and Tata Power that fell. The Advance-Decline Ratio, meanwhile, stood at 124/34.

The broader market, too, showed the dominance of bulls with 1,025 shares gaining ground compared with 288 that lost.

Meanwhile, companies such as WABCO, BlueDart, Excel Crop, and Sagar Cements posted smart gains post earnings.

(Image credits: Indiatimes)