Mumbai, Jan 7 (IANS): The domestic benchmark indices opened higher on Tuesday as buying was seen in the energy, PSE, auto, IT, PSU bank, financial service, pharma, FMCG, metal and realty sectors.

At around 9.27 am, Sensex was trading at 78,292.85 after rising 327.86 points or 0.42 per cent, while Nifty was trading at 23,744.85 after gaining 128.80 points or 0.55 per cent.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,724 stocks were trading in green, while 487 stocks were in red.

Nifty Bank was up 258.50 points or 0.52 per cent at 50,180.50. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 56,737.20 after rising 370.25 points or 0.66 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 18,534.15 after gaining 108.90 points or 0.59 per cent.

According to market experts, the 1.6 per cent cut in Nifty on Monday appears to be an overreaction to the HMPV virus concerns. Nifty corrected by 388 points, which means the correction was triggered by short selling by bears trying to exploit the negative sentiments.

"The resilience of the pharma and health care stocks also indicate the influence of the virus concerns on the market. Clarification by the government that there is no room for undue concern from the virus, which is not new, can facilitate a rebound in the market, led by momentum stocks," they mentioned.

In the Sensex pack, Titan, HCL Tech, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle India, PowerGrid and Tech Mahindra were the top gainers. Whereas, Zomato, M&M and Tata Motors were the top losers.

The Dow Jones declined 0.06 per cent to close at 42,706.56. The S&P 500 gained 0.55 per cent to 5,975.40 and the Nasdaq gained 1.24 per cent to close at 19,864.98 in the last trading session.

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

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 2,575.06 crore on January 6 and domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 5,749.65 crore on the same day.