Opening Bell: Nifty, Sensex open flat with positive bias; banking stocks in focus

The Indian markets started the last trading day of the week flat but with positive bias as the headline indices advanced after opening in the green.  

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Domestic equity benchmarks Nifty50 and S&P BSE Sensex opened at 17,424.90 and 58,555.58 respectively. The Sensex and the Nifty both gained in the opening trade as the former added 145.92 points from the previous closing and the latter added 37.80 soon after the market open 

The Nifty Bank too opened flat at 36,497.30 only to add 76.80 (0.21%) to 36,585.05.  

Infosys, Larsen and Toubro, BPCL, Kotak Bank and Axis Bank were top gainers on Nify50, while Nestle India, Asian Paints and Shree Cement dragged the index the most. 

In the pre-open, the Sensex was trading flat with positive bias as the 30-share index opened with 94.29 gains or 0.16% to 58,555.58. 

Earlier, SGX Nifty Futures were trading lower by 55 points in the early morning trade, hinting at flat to negative opening for the Indian markets. As many as 47 shares advanced on Nifty and 3 declined, while 20 stocks were sitting in the green on the BSE Sensex.  

Meanwhile, global cues remain mixed for Friday as the Asian markets broadly traded in the negative on Friday, while the US markets closed in the green on Thursday 

Nikkei 225 index was down 0.13% or 35 points to 27, 718, Hang Seng Index shed 243 points to 23,545 and Shanghai Composite was up 0.10% at 3,577 around 7.15 am on Friday. 

Earlier on Thursday, all major Wall Street indices ended on positive note. Dow Jones gained 618 points or 1.82% to 34,639.79, Nasdaq Composite ended 0.83% higher or 127 points up to 15,381.32, while S&P 500 Index settled for 4,577.10 after gaining 1.42% or 64.06 higher on Thursday's closing.