BENGALURU: Indian shares opened marginally higher on Thursday, led by private sector banks after positive commentary on the sector from Macquarie, while a drop in pharma stocks capped gains.

The NSE Nifty 50 was up 0.06% at 23,531.30, while the S&P BSE Sensex added 0.17% to 77,477.91, as of 9:27 a.m. IST.

Private bank index rose 0.5% and was the top sectoral gainer by percentage. Kotak Mahindra Bank and City Union Bank rose 2.2% each after Macquarie upgraded the two lenders to “outperform” from “neutral”.

Kotak was the top Nifty 50 gainer.

Analysts expected the benchmarks to trade near current levels, ahead of first-quarter results and the union budget, both due next month.

Indian shares end flat as private banks offset drop in state-owned firms

Seven of the 13 major sectors logged losses.

Pharma stocks dropped 0.7%, dragged by heavyweight Sun Pharma.

The drug maker dropped about 2%, after its Dadra facility received a warning letter from the US drug regulator, summarising violations concerning current manufacturing practices.