Mumbai, March 20 (IANS) Domestic benchmark indices opened higher on Friday, rising over 1 per cent in early trade amid hopes of easing tensions in West Asia.

Sensex opened at 74,559, up 352 points or 0.47 per cent, while Nifty started trading at 23,110, higher by 108 points or 0.47 per cent, according to exchange data.

In early trade, the 30-share Sensex surged as much as 891 points, or 1.20 per cent, while the Nifty climbed 279.7 points, or 1.21 per cent, to 23,281.85. The strong gains were supported by broad-based buying across sectors.

Sector-wise, all major indices traded in the green, led by PSU bank stocks, which rose over 2 per cent.

IT and energy indices also posted strong gains of around 2 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively. Auto, metal, and consumer durable stocks also witnessed healthy buying interest, indicating a positive market breadth.

According to Hitesh Tailor, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, the market continues to reflect bearish undertones, with key resistance seen in the 23,200–23,250 range, while support is placed near 22,850–22,900 levels.

Recent signals from the US and Israel indicating a possible de-escalation in the Iran conflict have brought some relief to global markets, said analysts.

In the previous session, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers, offloading equities worth Rs 7,558 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 3,864 crore, providing some support to the market.

Meanwhile, global markets traded mixed, with Wall Street ending in the red. In the US, the S&P 500 closed 0.27 per cent lower, while the Nasdaq declined 0.28 per cent.

In Asia, markets showed a mixed trend. Japan’s Nikkei fell over 3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.35 per cent, while South Korea’s KOSPI rose nearly 1 per cent in early trade.

In commodities, Brent crude futures declined as much as 3.39 per cent to $104.96 per barrel as of around 8:55 a.m., while US WTI crude traded 3.22 per cent lower at $92.47.

--IANS

ag/na