Stock Market Opens Higher; Sensex Climbs 250 Points, Nifty Above 24,050

Indian benchmark equity indices opened in the green on Thursday, tracking positive global cues and firm investor sentiment. At around 9:14 am, the BSE Sensex was trading at 77,180.01, up 257.37 points or 0.33%. The index opened at 77,083.14 after closing at 76,922.64 in the previous session.

The Nifty 50 was also higher, trading at 24,062.20, gaining 56.35 points or 0.23% from its previous close of 24,005.85.

The rally was largely driven by information technology stocks. Infosys emerged as the top gainer on the Sensex, rising 2.89%, followed by HCLTech (2.35%), TCS (2.10%), Tech Mahindra (1.20%) and IndiGo (0.71%). Other gainers included Adani Ports, Eternal (formerly Zomato), Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel and Titan.

On the other

hand, Bajaj Finance was the biggest laggard, falling 0.87%. NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, Trent, Hindustan Unilever, Power Grid, Axis Bank and ITC also traded marginally lower in early deals.

Sectorally, Nifty IT outperformed with a 1.44% gain, supported by strong buying in frontline technology stocks. Nifty Auto advanced 0.68%, while Nifty Media, PSU Bank, Pharma, Metal and Healthcare indices also traded in positive territory. Financial stocks remained largely subdued, with Nifty Bank up 0.17% and Nifty Financial Services edging up 0.02%.

Broader markets mirrored the positive trend. The Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices gained 0.37% and 0.41%, respectively, indicating broad-based buying across market segments.

Meanwhile, the India VIX, often referred to as the market’s fear gauge, declined 2.62% to 13.24, suggesting easing volatility and improved investor confidence at the start of the trading session.