10:30 am: Omnitech InfoSolutions Ltd has announced expansion plans for the Far East and European markets. The company has entered into joint venture with Singapore based technology company Attiva Services Pte.

Attiva is a start-up specialising in strategic IT consulting, infrastructure and application services and caters to Banking Financial Services and Insurance segment.

Throught the JV initiative, a new company named Omnitech Services Pte has been incorporated in Singapore with Omnitech contributing a majority stake of 55%.

Omnitech will invest around $1 million over a period of 12-18 months. The newly formed entity expects to generate $40 million revenue over a period of three years.

Omnitech shares were up 1.85% at Rs 115.80 on NSE, following this announcement.

10:05 am: The Sensex was trading at 16,767.07, higher by 90.03 points or 0.54%. The BSE sensitive index had opened at 16,686.38 against 16,677.04 at close Wednesday. The popular 30-share index touched a high of 16,802.49.

10:05 am: Reliance Industries (-1.75%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (-1.45%) and Punjab National Bank (-0.04%) were the only losers among the Nifty constituents.

10:03 am: The early gainers among the 50 Nifty stocks included HCL Technologies (9.03%), Sterlite Industries (2.14%), Axis Bank (2.13%), Tata Motors, ACC, Steel Authority of India, Tata Power, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, Ranbaxy Laboratories.

9:57 am: Stock indices started the day on a positive note, extending gains for the fourth day Thursday tracking upbeat US and Asian markets. The Nifty opened at 4958.55 against the previous close of 4958.40 and moved up to touch a high of 4993.40 in the early minutes.

The NSE benchmark is just short of the the 5000 mark as the index seems to have settled at 4989.05, up 30.65 points or 0.62%.