The Indian equity benchmark indices opened higher on Friday led by gains in metals, financials and auto stocks amid mixed global cues.

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At 9:15 am, the Sensex opened 0.30 percent, or 132.18 points, higher at 43,732.14 while the Nifty50 index opened at 12,813.40, up 41.70 points, or 0.33 percent.

Broader markets outperformed the benchmarks with Nifty Smallcap100 and Nifty Midcap100 indices up 0.83 percent and 1.04 percent, respectively.

All the sectoral indices traded higher led by Nifty Metal, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Auto and Nifty FMCG.

Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco, Bajaj Finance and NTPC led the gains among Nifty50 constituents while UPL, Adni Ports & SEZ, SBI Life Insurance, Hindustan Unilever and ICICI Bank were the top index losers.

Vodafone Idea gained over 3 percent after the company sold its 11.15 percent stake in Indus Towers for Rs 3,760 crore.

Globally, financial markets were hit by a wave of uncertainty on Friday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called for an end to coronavirus pandemic relief for struggling businesses, sparking a rare clash between the central bank and Treasury, Reuters reported.

S&P500 futures slipped 0.7% while Dow futures fell 0.8%, cancelling out a firmer lead from a strong Wall Street session overnight. The dollar halted its week-long slide and the 10-year Treasury yield slipped to the lowest in 10 days to 0.818%.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei stumbled 0.5% while South Korea's KOSPI index was flat and Australian shares were mildly positive. Chinese shares were little changed with the blue-chip CSI300 index a shade firmer. That left MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan up 0.2%.

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