Equity benchmark indices opened higher on Friday as investors shifted focus to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy outcome.
JSW Steel, Wipro, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, NTPC and M&M led gains on the Sensex, while LTIMindtree, UPL and Hindalco were the top Nifty winners.
On the flip side, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, SBI, Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Divi's Labs and Dr Reddy's were the leading frontline drags.
At 9:35 hours, the 30-share benchmark index was trading at 69680.25 up by 158.56 points or by 0.23 % and then NSE Nifty was at 20958.8 up by 57.65 points or by 0.28 %.
Sensex touched intraday high of 69735.16 and intraday low of 69606.69 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 20972.75 and intraday low of 20932.55
The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were JSW Steel Ltd. (Rs. 847.90,+3.48%), NTPC Ltd. (Rs. 288.45,+1.55%), HCL Technologies Ltd. (Rs. 1346.85,+1.48%), Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (Rs. 232.65,+1.22%), Tata Steel Ltd. (Rs. 131.25,+0.96%), among others.
The top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were Bajaj Finance Ltd. (Rs. 7351.20,-0.58%), State Bank of India (Rs. 609.00,-0.47%), Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (Rs. 3605.30,-0.32%), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (Rs. 10662.15,-0.29%), Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Rs. 996.35,-0.24%), among others.
Metal index was at 25041.27 up by 372.67 points or by 1.51%. JSW Steel Ltd. (Rs. 847.90,+3.48%), NMDC Ltd. (Rs. 188.15,+2.23%), Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (Rs. 695.50,+1.71%), Vedanta Ltd. (Rs. 252.95,+1.67%), Hindalco Industries Ltd. (Rs. 523.50,+1.49%),.
Auto index was at 40761.12 down by 0.71 points or by 0%. UNO Minda Ltd. (Rs. 662.10,-0.84%), Tube Investments of India Ltd. (Rs. 3400.50,-0.32%), MRF Ltd. (Rs. 117085.70,-0.29%), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (Rs. 10662.15,-0.29%), Ashok Leyland Ltd. (Rs. 177.30,-0.28%),.
The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 3096 , shares advanced were 2179 while 791 shares declined and 126 were unchanged.