Opening bell: Headline indices trade higher in early deals

Following overnight advances on Wall Street, Asian equities were trading higher on Friday.

In early trade, benchmark indices opened higher on favourable global cues and traded with gains. All major NSE sectors opened in the green, except for the Nifty FMCG Index.

At 9:45 AM, the BSE Sensex jumped by 178 points and is trading at 57,699.40 levels. The BSE MidCap also moved upwards by 97 points and is trading at 24,714.81 levels. The BSE SmallCap has increased by 73 points and is trading at 28,851.39 levels. The stocks trading in the green on the BSE Sensex are Sun Pharmaceuticals, Induslnd Bank, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Tata Steel, and Mahindra & Mahindra.

The Nifty 50 index opened in green today up by 61 points and is now trading at 17,306.55 levels. Bank Nifty similarly is trading higher, up by 82 points and at 36,505.00 levels. The gainers on Nifty 50 are Sun Pharmaceuticals, Induslnd Bank, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Tata Steel, and Kotak Bank.

The market outlook is positive as out of 2,902 stocks traded, 1, 796 stocks advanced and 1,011 stocks have declined in the morning session, while 151 stocks are locked up in the upper circuit and 114 stocks are locked in the lower circuit today. There are 85 stocks trading at a 52-week high and there are 18 stocks that are trading at a 52-week low.