Mumbai, April 21 (IANS) The domestic benchmark indices opened higher on Monday amid positive global cues, as buying was seen in the IT, PSU bank and financial services sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.29 am, Sensex was trading 396.06 points or 0.50 per cent up at 78,949.26 while the Nifty added 98.20 points or 0.41 per cent at 23,949.85.

Nifty Bank was up 862.25 points or 1.59 per cent at 55,152.45. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 52,891.30 after adding 233.50 points or 0.44 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 16,460.35 after climbing 50.15 points or 0.31 per cent.

According to market watchers, after the positive opening, Nifty is likely to find support at 23,700, followed by 22,600 and 22,500. On the upside, 24,000 may act as the immediate resistance, followed by 24,200 and 24,500.

“Bank Nifty charts indicate potential support at 54,000, followed by 53,700 and 53,500. If the index moves higher, resistance could emerge at 54,500, with subsequent levels at 54,700 and 55,000,” said Mandar Bhojane of Choice Broking.

Large private banks took the lead, surging to new all-time highs. Their quarterly results over the weekend aligned with market expectations and will continue to drive markets higher, said experts.

According to analysts, US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to India comes with hopes that both countries can secure a quick deal and a reprieve from weightier levies while maintaining a 10 per cent baseline tariff.

As earnings season progresses, market participants will scrutinise corporate commentaries for insights into how businesses adapt to the new tariff regime and what they observe throughout their supply chains and customer bases, said Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities.

Meanwhile, in the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank were the top gainers. Whereas, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Titan, Sun Pharma and UltraTech Cement were the top losers.

In the last trading session on Thursday, Dow Jones in the US declined 1.33 per cent to close at 39,142.23. The S&P 500 added 0.13 per cent to 5,282.70 and the Nasdaq declined 0.13 per cent to close at 16,286.45.

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

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended buying on third day on April 17 as they bought equities worth Rs 4,667.94 crore. However, Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) extended their selling on third session as they sold equities of Rs 2,006.15 crore on the same day.