The Sensex and Nifty opened the session marginally higher owing to firm Asian cues.

At 9.35 a.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 73.08 points or 0.23 per cent at 31,735.82 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 25.4 points or 0.26 per cent at 9,955.30.

Among BSE sectoral indices, metal index was the star-performer and was up 1.23 per cent, followed by capital goods 0.76 per cent, consumer durables 0.6 per cent and infrastructure 0.57 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were Tata Steel (+1.25%), L&T (+1.2%), Coal India (+0.79%), Cipla (+0.62%) and ITC (+0.57%), while the major losers were Dr Reddy's (-0.76%), Infosys (-0.34%), Axis Bank (-0.33%), M&M (-0.33%) and Bajaj Auto (-0.3%).

Asian shares edged up on Friday as investors kept a wary eye on another US storm, while the dollar skidded after European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi suggested the bank may begin tapering its massive stimulus programme this autumn.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia–Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.1 per cent, but was still down 0.2 per cent for the week.