Shares opened firm Thursday, led by strengths in banking, realty and auto shares. Brokers attribute the upswing since yesterday to technical factors and said the undertone was still weak because of the problems in the economy.

The BSE Sensex was up 81 points at 18495, and the NSE Nifty was up 16 points at 5575. Tata Motors shares led gainers after reporting strong sales in its JLR arm, which makes luxury cars. The stock was up 4 percent at Rs 279.25, even as some analysts attributed the strong JLR numbers to seasonal factors.

Infosys share markets were trading 1 percent higher at 2850 ahead of its fourth quarter earnings due Friday. ICICI Bank, JP Infratech and Essar Oil were the other key gainers at this hour up around 2 percent each.

Technical analysts see 5647—the 200-day moving average—as the next key resistance level for the Nifty. Rajat Rajgarhia of Motilal Oswal Securities feels large cap stocks could bottom out in the current quarter. He does not see overall earnings growth in the April-June quarter being much better than that in the fourth quarter. Jet Air, M&M and Idea Cellular were among the key laggards in early trade, down between 1-3 percent.

India’s 50-share NSE index gains 0.28 percent, while the benchmark BSE index rises 0.44 percent, heading for a second consecutive session of gains.

Gains come after both the Dow and the S&P 500 end at record highs, while Asian shares are further underpinned by data showing a surge in local currency loans in March.

Shares in Tata Motors Ltd rise 4.8 percent on hopes unit Jaguar Land Rover Ltd (JLR) will report solid global wholesales for March, which are due later in the day. IT shares gain for a second day as previous losses are seen as overdone: Infosys Ltd gains 1.1 percent ahead of fiscal 2013 earnings on Friday.

However, shares of Jet Airways India Ltd fall 3.2 percent after Reuters reported a stake sale to Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways could be delayed until at least August, two dealers said.