FIRST TRADE: Sensex opens slightly up at 79,950, Nifty lower at 24,300; Cipla, LT gain

Benchmark indices BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 opened with mixed sentiment on Thursday, reflecting cautious global cues. The Sensex inched up 9 points to 79,951.22, a marginal rise of 0.01 percent, while the Nifty slipped 29 points, or 0.12 percent, to 24,311.

In the Asia-Pacific region, markets were mostly down as investors await the Bank of Japan’s interest rate decision and business activity data from China. Economists anticipate that the BOJ will hold its policy rate steady at 0.25 percent, although any hints on future rate adjustments will be closely monitored.

China’s manufacturing PMI exceeded expectations slightly, rising to 50.1 from last month’s contraction at 49.8. Following this, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.33 percent, and the CSI300 slipped 0.22 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was a rare gainer, up 0.19 percent.

Japan's Nikkei 225 and Topix indexes fell 0.47 percent and 0.49 percent, respectively. South Korea's Kospi led losses in the region, down 1.24 percent, with the smaller Kosdaq dropping 0.20 percent. Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was lower by 0.36 percent, indicating a broadly cautious market environment.