New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices opened higher on Monday amid buying in blue-chip stocks, supported by strong corporate earnings for the second quarter.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 234.42 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 84,797.20 in early trade, while the NSE Nifty climbed 56.10 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 25,966.15.

Among the major gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Bharat Electronics Ltd, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Bajaj Finserv.

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, UltraTech Cement, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, PowerGrid, and Trent were among the laggards.

“Q2 results declared so far indicate an uptrend in earnings growth. Net profits have grown by 10.8 per cent — the highest in six quarters — and consumption patterns suggest the momentum will continue into Q3, driven largely by discretionary demand in automobiles,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Asian markets were largely in the red, with Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indices trading lower. South Korea’s Kospi, however, gained marginally.

Wall Street ended mixed on Friday, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 paring losses to close nearly flat. Brent crude, the global benchmark, slipped 0.87 per cent to USD 63.83 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers for the fifth consecutive session on Friday, offloading shares worth Rs 4,968.22 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sustained their momentum, buying equities worth Rs 8,461.47 crore.

“The market’s ability to hit new highs has been constrained by persistent FII selling. A shift in FII stance, along with improved earnings visibility from Q3, could drive a sustained breakout,” Vijayakumar added.

On Friday, the Sensex had risen 84.11 points to close at 84,562.78, while the Nifty gained 30.90 points to end at 25,910.05.

With inputs from PTI