Mumbai, Jan 24: Indian benchmark indices opened higher on Friday, extending gains to day three this week, as Nifty Bank, auto, FMCG and IT sectors led the morning trade.

In early trade, Nifty rose 0.31 per cent to 23,277, while the 30-stock Sensex advanced 0.31 per cent to 76,765. Seven out of the 12 sectors on the NSE advanced, with Nifty Metal and Nifty Oil and Gas gaining the most.

The broader markets underperformed its larger peers, with the BSE MidCap slipping by 0.12 per cent and the SmallCap falling by 0.20 per cent.

ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Infosys and PowerGrid contributed to the advance on the Nifty 50.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Maruti Suzuki, and Kotak Mahindra Bank weighed on the benchmark index.

According to market experts, the strength of the US market with S&P 500 setting yet another record high and the 10-year US bond yield remaining strong around 4.65 per cent will continue to weigh on the Indian market.

The Q3 results of IT companies and the management commentary indicating improving prospects for the sector suggest that the sector is a safe bet now, they added.

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Oil and Gas was the top gainer, rising by 1 per cent, followed by Nifty Metal and Realty, which were up 0.9 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively. Nifty Pharma was the top loser, declining by 1.6 per cent.

According to market experts, after a positive opening, Nifty can find support at 23,100 followed by 23,000 and 22,800. On the higher side, 23,300 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 23,400 and 23,500.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers on the 15th consecutive day as they sold equities worth Rs 5,462.52 crore on January 23. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 3,712 crore on the same day.

Given the prevailing volatility, traders are advised to exercise caution, implement strict stop-loss strategies, and avoid carrying long positions overnight unless the Nifty index sustains above the 23,500 mark to effectively manage risk, said Hardik Matalia from Choice Broking.

Meanwhile, the rupee opened 14 paise higher at 86.33 per dollar on Friday.

—IANS

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