India’s benchmark indices opened marginally higher on Tuesday amid positive global cues, with buying seen in the auto, PSU bank, and financial services sectors during early trade.

As of around 9:34 a.m., the Sensex was trading 134.87 points, or 0.17 per cent, higher at 79,543.37, while the Nifty gained 37.65 points, or 0.16 per cent, to reach 24,163.20.

The Nifty Bank index was up by 78.85 points, or 0.14 per cent, at 55,383.35. The Nifty Midcap 100 index stood at 54,273.90 after adding 299.45 points, or 0.55 per cent. Meanwhile, the Nifty Smallcap 100 index climbed 78.10 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 16,851.45.

According to market watchers, Nifty has now returned to March’s high of 23,870, which may act as an important resistance level in the near term.

In the Sensex pack, Eternal, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, and Hindustan Unilever Limited were among the top gainers. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, Power Grid, Asian Paints, and HCL Tech were among the top losers.

Meanwhile, U.S. stocks slumped on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

In the previous trading session, the Dow Jones in the U.S. declined 2.48 per cent to close at 38,170.41. The S&P 500 fell 2.36 per cent to 5,158.20, while the Nasdaq dropped 2.55 per cent to 15,870.90.

In Asian markets, Japan, Hong Kong, and Bangkok were trading in the red, while Jakarta, Seoul, and China were in the green.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹1,970.17 crore on April 21. Meanwhile, Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) purchased equities worth ₹246.59 crore on the same day.

IANS