New Delhi, Oct 29 (IANS) Indian equities opened slightly higher Friday but soon entered a session of choppy trading on the first day of the new series of futures and options, pulling down a key index.

The benchmark sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) began the day at 19,986.32 points, as against the previous close at 19,941.04, with a gain of 45.28 points, or 0.23 percent.

Even though it briefly scaled the 20,000-point mark at 20,005.50 points, it soon fell to 19,903.75 points to log a loss of -37.29 points, or 0.19 percent. The index had slipped below the 20,000-point mark Thursday on expiry of October futures and options series.

The mid-cap index was down 0.11 percent, while that for small caps fell 0.34 percent. This apart, nine out of the 13 sector-specific indices were ruling in the red, while four others, led by that for oil and gas, were in the green.

At the National Stock Exchange, the broader S&P CNX Nifty was ruling at 5977.80 points, with a loss of 9.90 points, or 0.17 percent over the previous close, data available with the bourse showed.

In the Mumbai bourse, Reliance Industries was the top gainer among the 30 Sensex shares, up 1.76 percent at Rs.1,102.15, while Tata Motors was the top loser, falling 2.36 percent at Rs.1,162.40.

Reliance Power, which had announced the award of a $10-billion contract to a Chinese firm for supply of equipment, was up 3.40 percent at Rs.157.40.

The company said Shanghai Electric Corp has been contracted to provide boilers, turbines and generators to Reliance Power's coal-based power plants, including the supply of 42 units of 660 MW each using what is called super critical technology.