Equity benchmark indices opened on a positive note on Saturday, with the Sensex rising 250 points due to an uptick in financial stocks. The BSE Sensex rose by 250.08 points or 0.35% to reach 71,933.31 points in early trade. The Nifty also climbed 75.80 points or 0.35% to reach 21,698.20 points. The shares of HUL and Reliance Industries faced pressure after announcing their December quarter results. Reliance Industries shares showed a decline of 0.18% at Rs 2,730 in morning deals after posting a 9% rise in their net profit for the December quarter. HUL’s stock also faced a decline of 2.68% at Rs 2,496 apiece after reporting a 1.08% increase in their consolidated net profit for the third quarter. On the Sensex, major gainers included HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, ITC, and Bajaj Finserv, while HUL, Wipro, UltraTech, and HCL Tech were among the losers. Most financial stocks were trading positively. On Friday, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq achieved record closing highs. Asian stocks ended on a mixed note. Analysts predict that domestic equity markets will have subdued activity due to low participation from global and domestic investors. Nifty is expected to face resistance at 21,850, with support at 21,500. Normal trading sessions are scheduled for Saturday, while the market will be closed on January 22. On Friday, the BSE Sensex rose by 496.37 points or 0.70%, settling at 71,683.23 points, and the Nifty climbed by 160.15 points or 0.75%, closing at 21,622.40 points. Brent crude declined by 0.68% to $78.56 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,689.68 crore on Friday, as per exchange data.