Mumbai, July 31 -- Indian benchmark equity indices opened higher on Friday, supported by sustained foreign institutional investor (FII) buying and easing crude oil prices, even as global markets continued to witness heightened volatility and IT stocks came under pressure.

The NSE Nifty 50 opened at 24,361.45, up 44.30 points or 0.18 per cent, while the BSE Sensex gained 70.51 points or 0.09 per cent to 77,998.66.

Foreign institutional investors have remained net buyers over the past three trading sessions, purchasing equities worth a cumulative Rs 7,360 crore, lending support to domestic markets.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said sharp swings in global markets, particularly in the US and So...