The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Friday opened higher by 79 points on buying by funds in bluechips, especially banking and PSU stocks.

The 30-share index gained 79.23 points, or 0.43 per cent, to trade at 18,153.13 points in the first five minutes of trading.

All the sectoral indices were trading in the positive zone with gains up to 1.15 per cent.

Likewise, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty shot up by 29.40 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 5,445.85 points.

The market sentiments turned bullish after the State Bank of India posted attractive quarterly results.