Sensex, Nifty open flat amid mixed global cues

MUMBAI — Indian benchmark indices opened on a flat note on Tuesday, amid mixed global cues and a lack of strong domestic triggers.

As of 9.25 am, the Sensex was marginally down 18 points, or 0.02 per cent at 83,718 and the Nifty was down 14 points, or 0.05 per cent at 25,748.

The broadcap indices performed in line with benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 down 0.08 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 losing 0.12 per cent.

Titan Company, Cipla and Trent were among the major gainers in the Nifty Pack, while losers included Tata Consumer, Maruti Suzuki, Apollo Hospitals and Hindalco.

Among sectoral indices, except for Nifty Media, Nifty Oil and gas, Consumer Durables and Realty, all indices were in the red. Nifty Auto was the major loser, down 0.48 per cent, while FMCG and IT lost 0.22 per cent and 0.21 per cent, respectively.

Analysts expect the FII strategy of selling in India on rallies and moving money to other markets to continue in the near term.

FIIs’ renewed selling is constraining the rally in the market. This is an indication that they will continue to sell on rallies, they added.

However, this is likely to be a short-term challenge. Medium-term prospects look good with robust GDP growth and impressive sales data, particularly from automobiles, according to market watchers.

Meanwhile, US Federal Reserve officials on Monday continued pressing competing views on the economy, a debate set to intensify ahead of the Fed's December policy meeting and in the absence of key data, including from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, due to the federal government shutdown.

The US markets ended in the green zone overnight, as Nasdaq added 0.46 per cent, the S&P 500 moved up 0.17 per cent, and the Dow lost 0.48 per cent.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in the red during the morning session. While China's Shanghai index slipped 0.21 per cent, and Shenzhen lost 1.29 per cent, Japan's Nikkei declined 0.1 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.28 per cent. South Korea's Kospi declined 1.59 per cent.