Mumbai: Benchmark Indian equity indices opened higher on Friday, led by a sharp rally in Bajaj Finance, fresh foreign fund inflows and a drop in global crude prices, although profit-taking in IT stocks limited the upside.

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The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 49.91 points to 77,970.95 in early trade, while the NSE Nifty50 rose 28 points to 24,343.65.

Bajaj Finance jumped more than 6 percent after the company reported a 28 percent year-on-year rise in consolidated profit after tax to Rs 6,081 crore for the June quarter of FY27, driven by higher core income and improvements in asset quality.

Other notable gainers in the Sensex pack included Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharat Electronics, Maruti, InterGlobe Aviation, Adani Ports and Sun Pharma.

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However, IT counters weighed on the rally, with Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HCLTech and Tech Mahindra among the laggards. Financial heavyweight HDFC Bank and consumer major ITC also traded lower.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 3,623.51 crore on Thursday, exchange data showed.

Global cues were mixed-to-positive. Brent crude eased about 0.98 percent to USD 88.16 a barrel, while most Asian markets traded higher — South Korea’s KOSPI rebounded strongly, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Shanghai’s SSE were in positive territory; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lagged. US markets closed significantly higher on Thursday.

In previous session, the Sensex ended 273.55 points, or 0.35%, higher at 77,928.15, and the Nifty rose 66.95 points, or 0.28%, to 24,317.15.

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