Opening Bell: Markets extend rally for 9th session in row; Sensex up over 50 points, Nifty above 17,950

Stock market started Friday’s session with minor gains as Sensex surged over 50 points and Nifty50 opened above 17,950. 

At the market open, the BSE Sensex was up 53.23 points or 0.09 per cent to 60,351.2 and Nifty50 was up 10 points or 0.06 per cent to 17966.5. Outperforming the benchmarks, the broader markets such as the Nifty mid and small cap gained by 0.27 and 0.47 per cent respectively at the market open. 

As many as 31 stocks advanced and 18 declined, while one remained unchanged minutes after the market open. ONGC became the top Nifty gainer as government cuts windfall tax on crude, up nearly 1.5 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Hindalco, Wipro and Titan each up around 1 per cent.

On the contrary, Asian Paints become the top Nifty loser, down over 0.3 per cent, followed by Cipla, Reliance, Coal India, IndusInd Bank, Maruti each dipped marginally in the early morning trade today.

Sectorally, Nifty IT aided the markets most, as the index up over 1 per cent followed by Metal and Auto up almost 0.7 and 0.3 per cent respectively. While Nifty Bank, Financials and FMCG dragged the market as each of them were down between 0.8-0.2 per cent in the early morning trade today.