Sensex, Nifty open higher; Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Metro Brands, Carysil jump up to 8%

Indian equity benchmarks were up in Thursday's early deals, led by gains in pharma and consumer shares. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack rose 53 points or 0.08 per cent to trade at 66,955, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 17 points or 0.09 per cent up to trade at 20,114. Mid- and small-cap shares were positive as Nifty Midcap 100 climbed 0.08 per cent and small-cap gained 0.33 per cent. India VIX, fear index, fell 2.59% to 12.38-level.

Investors now await GDP (gross domestic product) data for the second quarter, scheduled to be released post-market hours.

On the global front, Asian markets were subdued today. Overnight, Wall Street equities settled on a flat note.

Back home, market participants would also focus on September quarter earnings. "The market will wait for the results of Infosys and HCL Tech, due today, for taking a view on the IT segment. The rally in banking stocks has more steam left," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought Indian shares worth Rs 71.91 crore on a net basis during the previous session and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 2,360.81 crore. FIIs remained net seller for 16th consecutive session.

12 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty Pharma, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Consumer Durables were outperforming the NSE platform by rising as much as 0.59 per cent, 0.39 per cent and 0.27 per cent, respectively. However, Nifty Metal and Nifty Oil & Gas slipped 0.42 per cent and 0.11 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, Hero MotoCorp was the top gainer in the Nifty pack as the stock jumped 3.10 per cent to trade at Rs 3,862.95. UltraTech Cement, SBI Life, M&M and Axis Bank gained up to 2.46 per cent.

In contrast, Adani Enterprises, Hindalco, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel and NTPC were among the top laggards.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,716 shares were advancing while 1,212 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, M&M, UltraTech, Axis, HUL and Sun Pharma were among the top gainers.

Also, Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Metro Brands, Carysil, General Insurance Corporation of India and Shipping Corporation of India surged up to 7.86 per cent. On the flipside, Cressandra Solutions, Adani Total Gas, JP Power, HCC and Adani Energy Solutions slipped up to 4.74 per cent.

Nifty outlook

"A mean reversion play aiming 19,980 may be attempted, but favoured view expect dips to be arrested without them getting extended beyond 20033. That said, upsides are most likely to be limited to 20,130-20,180," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

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