Indian equity markets opened with a marginal gain on Friday amid mixed signals from global markets. Buying at lower levels following the heavy decline in the previous trading session pushed both the Sensex and Nifty into positive territory.
The BSE Sensex opened at 73,679.20, gaining 98.66 points or 0.13%. The NSE Nifty rose 21.55 points or 0.09% to 23,084.65. In early trading, market breadth remained positive, with around 1,090 stocks trading higher, while 781 stocks declined. As many as 155 stocks showed no major change.
The opening gains came after heavy selling in the previous trading session, with buying interest returning at lower levels.
In early trading on the Nifty, Adani Enterprises, Shriram Finance and Power Grid Corporation were among the stocks trading higher.
Among the key Sensex gainers, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) led with a gain of around 0.94%. Axis Bank followed with a 0.90% gain, while Mahindra & Mahindra rose 0.84% and Power Grid gained 0.66%. State Bank of India (SBI) advanced 0.58%, while Bajaj Finance gained around 0.54%.
Despite the gains in the broader market, IT stocks remained under selling pressure. The Nifty IT index was trading 1.41% lower in early trade.
Infosys declined 1.45% to ₹994.50, while TCS fell 1.39% to ₹2,048.20. Tech Mahindra declined 0.99% to ₹1,530.75. Wipro traded lower, while ONGC was also under pressure in early trading.
The selling in IT stocks limited the overall recovery in the market.
Sectoral performance remained mixed in Friday's early trading session. The Nifty IT index recorded the largest decline at 1.41%. In contrast, banking and realty stocks witnessed buying.
The Nifty Bank index was up 0.26%, while Nifty Realty gained 0.35% and Nifty PSU Bank advanced 0.19%. Gains in banking, auto and realty stocks supported the benchmark indices, while weakness in the IT sector continued to weigh on the market.
