Indian stock market opens higher, Sensex above 79,500

Mumbai, April 22 (IANS) The domestic benchmark indices opened marginally up on Tuesday amid positive global cues, as buying was seen in the auto, PSU bank and financial services sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.34 am, Sensex was trading 134.87 points or 0.17 per cent up at 79,543.37 while the Nifty added 37.65 points or 0.16 per cent at 24,163.20.

Nifty Bank was up 78.85 points or 0.14 per cent at 55,383.35. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 54,273.90 after adding 299.45 points or 0.55 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 16,851.45 after climbing 78.10 points or 0.47 per cent.

According to market watchers, Nifty is now back to March’s high of 23,870 which can be an important resistance level in the near term.

"If the Nifty index fails to break and sustain above 23870 then it can see some correction or sideways consolidation in the near term. On the way down, 20 HMA at 23460 will be an important support level in case of a correction or pullback. However, if the Nifty index breaks and sustains above 23870 then 24250 – 24500 will be the upside levels to watch out for, " said Vikram Kasat, Head - Advisory, PL Capital.

Meanwhile, in the Sensex pack, Eternal, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance and Hindustan Unilever Limited were the top gainers. Whereas, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, Power Grid, Asian Paints, HCL Tech were the top losers.

In the last trading session, Dow Jones in the US declined 2.48 per cent to close at 38,170.41. The S&P 500 declined 2.36 per cent to 5,158.20 and the Nasdaq declined 2.55 per cent to close at 15,870.90.

In the Asian markets, Japan, Hong Kong and Bangkok were trading in red. Whereas Jakarta, Seoul and China were trading in green

"Despite global markets trading on a negative note, continued buying by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) added confidence to the domestic outlook," said Hardik Matalia, Derivative Analyst of Choice Broking

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,970.17 crore on April 21. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased equities of Rs 246.59 crore on the same day.

--IANS

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