Mumbai, Dec 26 : The Indian stock market opened higher on Thursday as buying was seen in the PSU bank, auto, financial service and metal sectors on Nifty.

At around 9:37 am, Sensex was trading at 78,744.55 after gaining 271.68 points or 0.35 per cent, while the Nifty was trading at 23,812.50 after gaining 84.85 points or 0.36 per cent.

The market trend remained positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,142 stocks were trading in green, while 795 stocks were in red.

According to experts, "the market will be expecting both fiscal and monetary stimulus. These expectations can keep the market in a consolidation phase in the near-term."

"The market reaction after the Budget and monetary policy will depend on the policy initiatives," they added.

Nifty Bank was up 400.60 points or 0.78 per cent at 51,633.60. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 57,104.90 after rising 47 points or 0.08 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 18,765 after rising 32.35 points or 0.17 per cent.

Akshay Chinchalkar of Axis Securities said, "The Nifty fell for the sixth day in seven, as early session gains failed to stick. Monday's bullish harami formation wasn't activated on Tuesday as prices failed to take out the prior day's high."

"The first two trading days of the week have generated successive candles with long shadows showing indecision continues to prevail. Technically speaking, the 23,880-24,070 area offers resistance while support lies between 23,500 and 23,640,' he noted.

On the sectoral front, selling was seen in the Realty, Pharma, FMCG, IT and Media sectors.

In the Sensex pack, SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank, ITC, IndusInd Bank and Adani Ports were the top gainers. Asian Paints, TCS and Reliance were the top losers.

Markets in the US were closed on Wednesday on account of Christmas. The S&P 500 added 1.10 per cent to 6,040 and the Nasdaq gained 1.35 per cent to close at 20,031.13 on Tuesday.

In the Asian markets, except Jakarta, China, Bangkok, Seoul and Japan were trading in green.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 2,454.21 crore on December 24, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 2,819.25 crore on the same day.

/IANS