New Delhi, August 11 (HS): Indian equities opened on a cautious yet positive note on Monday, with the Sensex and Nifty edging higher in choppy trade as buyers and sellers battled for early dominance.

The BSE Sensex began the session at 79,885.36, quickly breaching the psychological 80,000 mark to touch 80,059.56 before succumbing to profit-taking that dragged it down to 79,772.46. By 10:00 AM, fresh buying lifted the benchmark to 79,992.19, up 134.40 points or 0.17%.

The NSE Nifty 50 opened at 24,371.50, climbed to 24,428.40 on sustained demand, but dipped to 24,347.45 amid selling pressure. It later recovered to 24,404.50, marking a gain of 41.20 points.

Blue-chip leaders Grasim Industries, State Bank of India, Trent Ltd., Adani Enterprises, and Tata Motors led the advance with gains ranging from 0.65% to 2.08%. On the flip side, Titan Company, Apollo Hospitals, Hero MotoCorp, Hindustan Unilever, and ICICI Bank slipped between 0.67% and 1.52%.

Market breadth was mixed — out of 2,470 actively traded stocks, 1,144 advanced while 1,326 declined. The Sensex saw 16 gainers and 14 losers, while the Nifty was evenly split with 25 advancing and 25 declining components.

Monday’s tentative rebound follows a sharp sell-off on Friday, when the Sensex tumbled 765.47 points (0.95%) to close at 79,857.79, and the Nifty shed 232.85 points (0.95%) to end at 24,363.30.

Analysts say the market’s early moves reflect cautious optimism as investors monitor global cues and corporate earnings, with intraday volatility expected to remain elevated.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar