Mumbai, Aug 5 — Domestic equity markets opened higher on Wednesday ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s policy decision, with the headline indices gaining ground amid positive global cues.

The Sensex started the trading session at 79,055.38, up more than 600 points or 0.8 per cent, while the Nifty opened 54 points or 0.22 per cent higher at 24,669.20.

Sector-wise, realty, auto, energy and PSU banking stocks led the gains, with Nifty Realty, Nifty Auto, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Oil & Gas surging up to 2 per cent. Nifty Metal, Nifty Cement and Nifty Chemicals also edged higher.

In contrast, healthcare and pharmaceutical shares faced selling pressure in early deals. Nifty Healthcare, Nifty Pharma, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Private Bank declined by up to almost 1 per cent.

Among Nifty constituents, Apollo Hospitals, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, SBI Life, Nestle India, ITC and Tata Consultancy Services were among the top losers.

Analysts said the sharp dip in Brent crude to below $80 a barrel and record closes on Wall Street supported sentiment for the Indian market. “The focus of the market today will be the monetary policy. The central bank is almost certain to hold the rates in today’s policy since any rate hike now will impact the ongoing growth momentum in the economy,” they noted.

Experts further pointed to growth resilience in the economy, improving corporate earnings and foreign institutional investors turning buyers for the sixth consecutive day as positive factors. They added that the market appears poised for a potential upside breakout.

Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, declined 1.61 per cent to trade around $78 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell about 2 per cent to $74.24 per barrel.

Investors are closely watching the RBI’s commentary on interest rates, inflation and growth for cues on the near-term market direction.