The Indian equity market opened higher on Monday, with the Sensex and Nifty gaining after two consecutive weekly losses as investors turned to value buying and benefited from a decline in crude oil prices.

At 9:30 a.m., the Sensex was up 206.15 points, or 0.27 percent, at 77,746.98, while the Nifty 50 advanced 50 points, or 0.21 percent, to 24,302.

The rebound followed a weak performance last week, when the Nifty and Sensex declined 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively. The recent correction was driven partly by higher crude oil prices and rising bond yields amid escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia.

Value buying emerged after the recent decline, providing support to benchmark indices at the start of the new trading week. Investors, however, remained cautious as markets awaited further details on threatened US sanctions on Iran later in the day.

Crude oil prices also provided some relief. Brent crude futures declined around 2 percent, although prices remained elevated near USD 93 per barrel after gaining about 13 percent over the previous two weeks. Lower oil prices eased some pressure on markets that had been concerned about the impact of elevated energy costs on inflation and corporate profitability.

The Indian rupee also opened marginally stronger, supported by the overnight decline in oil prices and robust inflows through the Foreign Currency Non Resident Bank deposit route. The rupee was trading at 95.64 against the US dollar, compared with the previous close of 95.70.

From a technical perspective, analysts expect the recent recovery to continue if key support levels remain intact. Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, said the Nifty could move towards its 20 day simple moving average near 24,400, while the corresponding level for the Sensex is around 78,000.

A sustained breakout above these levels could open the way towards 24,500 to 24,700 for the Nifty and 78,300 to 78,900 for the Sensex. On the downside, a break below 24,150 on the Nifty and 76,900 on the Sensex could weaken sentiment and increase selling pressure towards 24,000 and 76,400, followed by 23,850 to 23,800 and 75,900 to 75,700, respectively.

Overall, the near term market direction is likely to remain sensitive to crude oil prices, currency movements and developments related to US sanctions on Iran.