Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 21 (ANI): Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty opened higher on Wednesday, supported by optimism over a possible India-US trade deal, although elevated crude oil prices and US bond yields are expected to keep markets under pressure.

The BSE Sensex was trading at 74,423.79, up 570.89 points or 0.77 per cent, while the Nifty 50 rose 167.35 points or 0.73 per cent to 23,055.70 at the time of filing this report. 

The Sensex opened at 74,337.93 against its previous close of 73,852.90, while the Nifty 50 opened at 23,016.00 against its previous close of 22,888.95.

Market sentiment remained cautious as Brent crude traded at USD 110.34 per barrel, up 1.43 per cent, while US equity futures showed a mixed trend. The Dow Jones futures gained 0.05 per cent and S&P 500 futures rose 0.28 per cent, while Nasdaq futures were down 0.02 per cent.

Additionally, the much-awaited Jio IPO also opens for subscription to retail investors today, with market participants tracking the offering alongside the ongoing second-quarter earnings season.

Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said elevated crude prices and US bond yields were likely to keep the market under pressure, with a "sell on rally" trend continuing in the near term.

"However, the improving earnings growth, fair valuations of large-caps, and strong domestic liquidity will support the market on declines," he said.

Vijayakumar added that IT and banking stocks, which have underperformed but reported improved second-quarter results, could attract domestic institutional investor buying during further corrections. He said market movements were likely to become increasingly stock-specific and sensitive to earnings.

"Despite the external headwinds, this is a stock picker's market now," he said.

Sectoral indices were largely in positive territory, with Nifty IT rising 2.03 per cent, followed by Nifty PSU Bank, up 0.74 per cent, and Nifty Metal, up 0.70 per cent. Nifty Media was the only major sectoral index in the red, slipping 0.15 per cent.

Among the Nifty 50 constituents, Infosys led the gainers, rising 2.47 per cent, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, up 2.08 per cent, and UltraTech Cement, which gained 1.96 per cent. Bajaj Finance was the biggest loser, declining 2.32 per cent, while Bajaj Finserv fell 0.49 per cent.

Market analyst Vipin Dixena said the 23,000-23,100 range was the immediate resistance zone for the Nifty, while 22,800-22,700 remained an important support area.

Investors will continue to track second-quarter earnings, crude oil prices and developments around the proposed India-US trade deal for further direction, he said. (ANI)