Benchmark indices opened strong on Friday with BSE Sensex rising 150 points to 74,639 and the NSE Nifty50 shedding 41 points to 22,646.

Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, M&M, Reliance,ICICI Bank, NTPC, RIL, led the gains on the Sensex, while Powegrid, Bharti Airtel and Tech Mahindra were trading in red.

On other hand, ONGC, BPCL and Bajaj Auto were among top gainers on NSE Nifty 50 while Coal India and Heromotocorp were among the top losers.

The broader markets opened strong with both the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices gaining 0.54 and 0.29 per cent respectively.

Nifty Technicals

According to Nagaraj Shetti, senior technical research analyst at HDFC Securities, the short-term trend of the Nifty is characterized by choppy, range-bound action. He noted that any upward movement from the current levels may face significant resistance around the 22,800 mark. Shetti highlighted that immediate support for the Nifty is situated at 22,550 levels, and a decline below this support level could potentially lead to further weakness in the market.

Global Cues

Elsewhere in Asia, ASX200 gained 0.57 per cent, Kospi 0.3 per cent, and Hang Seng 1.5 per cent. Mainland Chinese market, and Japanese markets are shut today.

Overnight, stocks in the US closed higher on Thursday as investors looked ahead to more earnings as well as the nonfarm payrolls report set to be released on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.85 per cent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.91 per cent. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.51 per cent.