The Indian markets have opened up this morning, although flat global cues. The Sensex has crossed the 18,000 mark in opening deals and is up 206 points or 1% at 18,054. Nifty is up 61 points at 5,477.

The BSE auto index is the biggest gainer in early trades and is up 3% at 10,295. Realty, capital goods, bankex and metal indices have moved up 1-2% each.

Tata Motors is the top contributor to the Sensex`s upmove. The stock is up6.3% at Rs 285. ICICI Bank and Larsen & Toubro, together accounts for over 50 points rally in the Sensex.

DLF, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Power are some of the other top gainers.

Meanwhile, Reliance has slipped marginally to trade flat at Rs 848.

Among individual stocks, Unitech has advanced 4% on reporting 50 per cent drop in consolidated net profit for the third quarter ended December 2011.