Indian equities markets began moderately higher on Friday, defying bearish indications from foreign counterparts, driven by index heavyweights Reliance, ICICI Bank, and HCL Tech.

At roughly 9:24 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 92 points or 0.15% higher at 59,724 while the Nifty50 was trading at 17,643, up 26 points or 0.15%. At the same time, the Bank Nifty was up 0.22% from the previous close, reaching 42,364.35 points.

HCL Tech was the leading gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing more than 2% after the IT major announced an 11% increase in net profit in Q4FY23. Cyient’s stock gained more than 9% after the company announced a 30% year-on-year increase in total revenue to Rs 1,751.4 crore in Q4FY23.

Asian Paints, Titan, Wipro, and IndusInd Bank also opened higher. Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Maruti, and NTPC, on the other hand, began with cutbacks.

Nifty IT increased by 0.68%, while Nifty Pharma increased by 0.55%. Banks, financials, FMCG, media, healthcare, consumer durables, and oil and gas all started higher. In the broader market, the Nifty Smallcap50 rose 0.26%, while the Nifty Midcap50 fell 0.08%.

Reliance Industries, Hindustan Zinc, and Tejas Network, among others, will report profits for the March quarter.

Wall Street equities finished down on Thursday after disappointing corporate earnings from Tesla and several regional banks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3% to 33,786, while the S&P 500 fell 0.6% to 4,129. The Nasdaq Composite Index, heavily weighted towards technology, fell 0.8% to 12,059.

Asian markets slumped on Friday as data showed the US economy was faltering, but Federal Reserve policymakers reinforced their case for more interest rate rises to combat persistent inflation. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, and Taipei all fell in flames.

The Q4 results season has been a mixed bag, with IT disappointing but still showing signs of strength. RIL is likely to post good numbers in its oil, chemicals, and retail segments, but a sharp spurt in aggregate profitability is unlikely. ICICI Bank is expected to post numbers ahead of market expectations, providing further resilience to Bank Nifty.