Mumbai, Aug. 21 -- The Indian equity markets opened on cautiously positive note on Friday. Both benchmark indices opened with a gap-up, however, failed to sustain yesterday's recovery due to surging crude oil prices and overnight losses.

Sensex opened at 77,701.07 against the previous close of 77,537.72, rising over 160 points while Nifty opened at 24,284.05 against pervious close of 24,231.85. At the time of reporting, Nifty was trading at around 24,221.35, down 10.50 points or 0.04 per cent while Sensex was trading at around 77,493.20, down 44.52 pointsr or 0.06 per cent.

Most broader market indices traded in the red, while most sectoral indices also remained under pressure. However, metal and private bank indices traded in positive t...