The Indian equity benchmark indices opened higher on Friday following a bounce-back in Asian peers as progress on COVID-19 vaccines boosted investor sentiment.

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At 9:15 am, the Sensex opened 0.22 percent, or 100.44 points, higher at 46,060.32, while the Nifty50 index opened at 13,512.30, up 34.00 points, or 0.25 percent.

Broader markets outperformed the frontline indices with Nifty Smallcap100 and Nifty Midcap100 indices up 0.99 percent and 0.83 percent, respectively.

All the sectoral indices were trading in the green led by Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Metal, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Media.

ONGC, GAIL India, UPL, IOC and NTPC were the Nifty50 top gainers, while Adani Ports & SEZ, Nestle India, Infosys, Tata Motors and Asian Paints were the top index losers.

UPL shares rose over 3 percent after the company’s management denied the whistleblower’s allegation of money siphoning by promoters and said that the issues were closed in 2017.

Canara Bank stock price rallied over 3 percent after the bank approved the issue price at Rs 103.50 per share for its qualified institutional placement (QIP) to raise Rs 2,000 crore

Meanwhile in Asia, shares and oil prices extended their rebound on Tuesday on mounting speculation policymakers around the world would move to ease the economic fallout from the spreading coronavirus.

Globally, Asian shares bounced back on Friday as progress on COVID-19 vaccines boosted investor sentiment, but tricky Brexit negotiations and US stimulus talks capped gains in riskier assets, a Reuters report said.

MSCI's ex-Japan Asia-Pacific index rose 0.5 percent, on track for its sixth straight week of gains, while Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.6 percent.

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