Sensex jumps 96 pts at open, Nifty near 16,956; auto stocks fall, Apollo Hospitals, Hindalco rise

Domestic equities opened higher on Monday amid mixed global cues as key indices — Sensex and Nifty — were up around 0.16 per cent. BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 96.35 points, or 0.17 per cent higher to 57,623.45, while NSE Nifty50 climbed 27.60 points, or 0.16 per cent to open at 16,972.65.

By 9.26 am, Sensex reversed its opening gains and was almost trading flat, while Nifty50 was up 14.50 points or 0.09 per cent.

Broader markets were underperforming at open, as Nifty Smallcap 50 and Nifty Smallcap 250 tanked 0.47 per cent, while Nifty Smallcap 400 was down 0.33 per cent, and Nifty Midcap Select opened 0.32 per cent lower. Meanwhile, Nifty100 climbed 0.11 per cent, and Nifty 200 0.06 per cent. India Vix, on the other hand, soared 2.19 per cent at open.

Auto stocks fell 0.78 per cent at open, as Mahindra and Mahindra was down 1.95 per cent, while Eicher Motors tanked 0.84 per cent. PSB stocks fell 0.56 per cent at open, followed by consumer durables at 0.55 per cent.

Meanwhile, Nifty Healthcare Index jumped 0.43 per cent, followed by pharma stocks at 0.35 per cent and metal stocks at 0.29 per cent. IT stocks were up 0.17 per cent.

Apollo Hospitals was the top gainer at open, as the stock soared 1.27 per cent. Hindalco gained 1.08 per cent, while ONGC rose 1.07 per cent. Other top-gaining stocks were Power Grid, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, and Maruti Suzuki.

Titan, Adani Enterprises, Axis Bank, ITC and Wipor were among the top losers in the opening trade.