FIRST TRADE: Indices open higher; Nifty at 23,981, Sensex gains 205 points

After a significant decline in the previous day's trade, equity indices opened higher on the last trading day of the week that also marks the beginning of the new December F&O series. At the open, Nifty was up 0.28 per cent or 67.25 points at 23,981.4, while the Sensex was up 0.26 per cent or 204.77 points at 79,248.51.

Sectorally, FMCG, IT and Realty traded in the red, while all other indices traded in the green.  Media and pharma saw the most buying action, with both indices up over 1 per cent at the last count,

In addition as the NSE introduces 45 new stocks in F&O across sectors such as finance, technology, and renewable energy. 

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services remarked that "a perplexing market action in recent days is the inexplicable volatility in FII activity. A few days of buying followed by yesterday’s massive selling of Rs 11756 crores is difficult to explain. What are the factors contributing to this apparently irrational activity? Is this a one-off? Or, is there more to come?"

Stocks in focus

Zomato, BSE, Adani green energy, Avenue supermarts, Varun Beverages, Nykaa: These stocks will gain traction upon inclusion in the F&O segment.

PB Fintech: The shares of the multibagger scrip traded mildly in the red as brokerages remain mixed on the stock's performance.

Asian markets

On Friday, most Asian market traded in the red as strong infllation data locally favoured an imminent rate hike from the Bank of Japan. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) traded with gains of 0.22 per cent at 578.