Equity benchmark indices opened on a positive note on Saturday, with Sensex rising 250 points on the back of an uptick in financial stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 250.08 points or 0.35 per cent to 71,933.31 points in early trade. The Nifty climbed 75.80 points or 0.35 per cent to 21,698.20 points.

Shares of HUL and Reliance Industries were under pressure after their December quarter results.

Reliance Industries shares were trading 0.18 per cent down at Rs 2,730 in morning deals post its third quarter earnings announcement on Friday.

The company posted a 9 per cent rise in its December quarter net profit as a planned maintenance-induced weakness in oil business earnings was offset by stability in retail and telecom verticals.

The stock of HUL was down 2.68 per cent at Rs 2,496 apiece in initial deals.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd on Friday reported an 1.08 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,508 crore in the third quarter ended December 2023.

Among the Sensex firms, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma and ICICI Bank, ITC, Bajaj Finserv were the major gainers.

HUL, Wipro, UltraTech, HCL Tech were among the losers.

Most of the financial stocks were trading in the green.

On Friday, the Dow and the S&P 500 set new record closing highs while the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached its best closing level in two years. Asian stocks had ended on a mixed note.

According to analysts, domestic equity markets are likely to witness subdued activity amid low participation from global as well as domestic investors.

"As the breadth of the market is very strong, we expect the stock-specific bullish trend is likely to continue. In the near term, Nifty could face resistance at 21,850, while support is seen at 21,500," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said.

Late on Friday, NSE and BSE announced that there will be normal trading sessions on Saturday while the market will be closed on January 22.

On Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 496.37 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 71,683.23 points. The Nifty climbed 160.15 points or 0.75 per cent to close at 21,622.40 points.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.68 per cent to USD 78.56 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,689.68 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

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