Market opening: SENSEX rises 150 points, NIFTY50 at 25,905 as bank, auto stocks lead; Eicher Motors top gainer

The Indian equity benchmark indices opened with modest gains on Friday, October 31, supported by strength in PSU bank and auto stocks amid firm global cues. However, investor sentiment remained cautious due to persistent foreign fund outflows.

In contrast, the broader market showed a positive trend in early trade, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.34% and 0.42%, respectively.

Among sectors, Nifty Metal (-0.78%) was the top laggard, followed by Nifty Pharma (-0.28%) and Nifty Media (-0.21%). On the other hand, Nifty PSU Bank (1.02%), Nifty Auto (0.74%), and Nifty Realty (0.6%) were seen in green.

According to exchange data, on Thursday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹3,077.59 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹2,469.34 crore on a net basis.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher as investor sentiment got a boost from better-than-expected quarterly earnings from tech giants Apple and Amazon. 

The investor sentiment also got a boost after US President Donald Trump said that the United States and China have reached a trade deal following his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, calling the talks “very successful” and suggesting a formal signing could happen soon.

Japan's Nikkei rose 1.2%, Singapore's Straits Times advanced 0.13%, and South Korea's KOSPI gained 0.74%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.11%.

On Wall Street, US stocks ended lower on Thursday as market participants sifted through mixed developments on everything from the US-China trade war to profits for Big Tech behemoths.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.23%, the S&P 500 fell 1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.57%.

As many as 2,641 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 1,728 advanced, 832 declined, and 81 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market's breadth is favourable towards advances.

Meanwhile, 37 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 14 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 28 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 16 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 12.05 levels, losing 0.14%.

NTPC was the biggest losing stock, losing 1.69%, followed by Max Healthcare (-1.55%), Cipla (-1.44%), Hindalco Industries (-1.07%) and Tata Steel (-0.83%).

On the flip side, Eicher Motors (1.25%), Maruti Suzuki (0.97%), Tata Consultancy Services (0.77%), Titan Company (0.71%) and Bharat Electronics (0.71%) were the top gainers on the 50-share index.