Mumbai, Jan 6 : The domestic benchmark indices opened higher on Monday as buying was seen in the IT and auto sectors.

At around 9.32 am, Sensex was trading at 79,470.61 after rising 247.50 points or 0.31 per cent, while Nifty was trading at 24,065 after gaining 60.25 points or 0.25 per cent.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 678 stocks were trading in green, while 1,302 stocks were in red.

Nifty Bank was down 139.60 points or 0.27 per cent at 50,849.20. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 57,823.65 after dropping 107.40 points or 0.19 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 18,949.75 after declining 83.95 points or 0.44 per cent.

According to market experts, domestically, the December auto numbers indicate that the much talked about urban demand deceleration is exaggerated.

'Buying will resume in these resilient domestic segments, supporting the market on declines,' they said, adding that given the current market setup, traders are advised to consider buying on dips as long as the index holds above 24,000, with 23,800 as a closing-basis stop-loss to manage risks effectively.

On the sectoral front, selling was seen in the PSU bank, Financial Service, Pharma, FMCG, Metal and Realty sectors.

In the Sensex pack, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, M&M, TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Zomato and Axis Bank were the top gainers. Whereas, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, NTPC, Maruti, Asian Paints and SBI were the top losers.

The Dow Jones gained 0.80 per cent to close at 42,732.13. The S&P 500 gained 1.26 per cent to 5,942.50 and the Nasdaq gained 1.77 per cent to close at 19,621.68 in the last trading session.

In the Asian markets, only Seoul was trading in green. Whereas Jakarta, Hong Kong, Bangkok, China and Japan were trading in red.

"The external macro construct continues to be unfavourable with the dollar index at 109 and the 10-year US bond yield at 4.62 per cent. The FIIs are likely to continue selling till the yields decline and the dollar stabilises," said experts.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 4,227.25 crore on January 3 and domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 820.60 crore on the same day.

The market outlook for this week will be guided by Q3 results, crude oil price, FIIs and domestic economic data.

/IANS