The Indian equity market opened higher on Monday, with the Sensex and Nifty trading in positive territory after weakness in recent sessions.
The Sensex gained around 198 points in early trade to reach 77,738.54, while the Nifty 50 rose 44.25 points to around 24,296.25. Buying was seen in select IT stocks and several large-cap stocks, while the number of advancing shares exceeded declining shares in the early session.
Around 1,543 shares were trading higher after the market opened, while approximately 920 shares were in the red. About 233 shares showed little change during early trade.
IT stocks were among the key contributors to the early market gains. Infosys rose around 1.96% to approximately ₹1,143, while HCL Technologies gained 1.44% to around ₹1,321.20. TCS and Tech Mahindra also traded with a buying bias.
The Nifty IT index gained around 0.96%, making it the leading sectoral gainer in early trade.
Metal stocks also attracted buying interest. Hindalco Industries rose around 1.33% to approximately ₹1,047.80, while Tata Steel also traded higher in early dealings.
HDFC Bank gained around 0.81% to ₹732.85. Coal India rose approximately 0.84% to around ₹408.60. Mahindra & Mahindra and some other large-cap stocks also witnessed buying.
Some pharma and consumer-sector stocks traded under pressure. Cipla declined around 1.28% to approximately ₹1,413.80, making it one of the major decliners. Apollo Hospitals fell around 0.72% to about ₹8,630.
Titan and Grasim Industries declined by around 0.45% to 0.50%. Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports and Bajaj Finserv also traded slightly lower in early dealings.
Among sectoral indices, Nifty Energy gained around 0.48%, while Nifty Realty rose approximately 0.36%. Nifty Pharma declined around 0.66%, and Nifty PSU Bank fell approximately 0.11%.
