India's shares opened higher on Friday, driven by gains in financial stocks, as markets showed modest upward movement amid a lack of significant catalysts toward the year-end. By 9:16 am, the Nifty 50 index had risen to 23,

January typically tends to be a slower month according to the past decade’s seasonality, with Nifty often closing in the red 70 per cent of the time.

Equity benchmarks rise in afternoon trade, Sensex at 78,788.13, Nifty at 23,846.35, auto and banking stocks lead gains.