The Indian benchmark indices opened higher on Thursday, tracking positive global cues, with notable buying seen in IT and media sectors during early trade.
At around 9:27 am, the Sensex was trading 454.70 points or 0.60% higher at 75,903.75, while the Nifty rose by 133.40 points or 0.58% to 23,041.
The Nifty Bank index was up by 253.90 points or 0.51%, trading at 49,956.50. Similarly, the Nifty Midcap 100 index advanced 306.10 points or 0.60% to 51,123.20, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained 180.35 points or 1.15% to trade at 15,927.95.
Following the positive opening, Nifty is likely to find support at 22,850, followed by 22,750 and 22,700 levels. On the upside, immediate resistance is expected at 23,000, with further hurdles at 23,100 and 23,200, said Hardik Matalia of Choice Broking.
In the Sensex pack, Zomato, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, M&M, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, TCS, Bharti Airtel, and SBI were among the top gainers. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever, L&T, Bajaj Finance, and UltraTech Cement were the top losers.
In the previous trading session, US markets closed higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.92% to end at 41,964.63. The S&P 500 rose 1.08% to close at 5,675.29, while the Nasdaq climbed 1.41% to 17,750.79.
Across Asian markets, Hong Kong and China were trading in the red, while Japan, Seoul, Jakarta, and Bangkok were trading in the green.
On the institutional front, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,096.50 crore on March 19, whereas Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 2,140.76 crore on the same day.
– IANS