Mumbai, Oct. 23 -- Indian equity benchmarks opened higher on Friday, with the Sensex rising 372.76 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 73,622.15 and the Nifty 50 gaining 43.75 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 22,731.40, as IT stocks led early gains at the time of filing this report.

The BSE Sensex opened at 73,665.64, against its previous close of 73,249.39, while the NSE Nifty 50 began the session at 22,742.20, compared with its previous close of 22,687.65.

Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said the sharp rise in Brent crude prices to USD 114 per barrel remained a major negative for the economy and equity markets. However, he noted that favourable movements in US bond yields and the rupee, along with t...