Sensex gains; Bharti, Idea up 2% on 100% FDI nod in telecom

9:30 am Bond market update: India's fixed income association said there would be no trading bands for government bonds and other securities on Wednesday, a second day in a row after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced measures to curb the rupee's slide and sent bond yields surging.

A key measure coming into effect from Wednesday is the total funds available under the RBI's repo window will be capped at 1 percent of banks' deposits.

9:25 am Movers and gainers: M&M, Dr Reddys' Labs, Bharti Airtel , NTPC and Hero Motocorp are top gainers in the Sensex. Meanwhile, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank , SBI, Coal India and ICICI Bank are major losers.

Don't miss what Udayan Mukherjee says about the market.

The market has made a stable start boosted by government’s FDI reforms. The Sensex opens up 68.24 points at 19919.47, and the Nifty is up 17.00 points at 5972.25. About 209 shares have advanced, 68 shares declined, and 21 shares are unchanged.

Telecom stocks like Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular are in focus today as the government has relaxed FDI reforms in 13 sectors including 100 percent in telecom and higher caps in insurance and defence sectors. Defence production FDI is likely to be hiked with riders and there has been no change in FDI cap for civil aviation sector.

In earnings action, HDFC Bank will announce April-June quarter earnings today. According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, a steady set of numbers is expected with net interest income seen 24 percent higher at Rs 4332 crore while profits may come in 30 percent higher.

The Indian rupee opened higher by 26 paise at 59.05 per dollar versus 59.31 Tuesday.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, Alpari said, "The rupee might see some more consolidation today owing to measures induced by RBI to squeeze liquidity and curb volatility. A weak dollar could also help the rupee. However, high dollar demand by importers and weak fundamentals will check rupee appreciation. The range for the day is seen between 58.80-59.68/USD."

On the global markets front, Asian markets were trading weak. China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.47 percent or 9.72 points at 2,056. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.26 percent or 54.89 points at 21,367.27.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.94 percent or 137.68 points at 14,461.44.

The dollar eased and US stocks fell on Tuesday, snapping an eight-day advance by the benchmark S&P 500 index, as investors took a cautious stance ahead of the Federal Reserve chief's testimony to a US congressional panel on Wednesday.