Mumbai, May 9 (IANS): Indian benchmark indices were down on Thursday, following mixed trading among global peers.

After a flat opening, Sensex was down 232 points or 0.32 per cent at 73,245 points, and Nifty was down 44 points or 0.20 per cent at 22,257 points.

In early trade, the Nifty Auto, PSU, Realty, and Private Banks indices are showing signs of buying. There is pressure on the IT, Pharma, FMCG, Metal, Fin service, and Energy indices.

In the Sensex pack, M&M, HCL Tech, Kotak Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, and Tata Motors are the top 5 gainers. L&T, TCS, ITC, JSW Steel, and Bajaj Finserv are the top losers.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading marginally lower by 31 points, or 0.06 per cent, at 49,988 points. At the same time, the Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 16,464 points, with a marginal gain of 8 points, or 0.05 per cent.

Vaishali Parekh, Vice President - Technical Research, Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. Ltd, said, "Nifty indicated weakness with a gap-down opening to make a low of 22,180 and witnessed some recovery to close on a flat note. However, bias was still maintained with a cautious approach. The index would have a level of 22,000 as the major support zone from current levels, and a decisive breach above 22,400 is necessary to improve the sentiment. Sensex has closed below 20 DMA and a break below 73,000 levels. The index can slide further to 72,700 levels of the lower band of the rising trend line pattern, with bias turning weak. The support for the day is seen at 73,000/22,150 while the resistance is seen at 74,000/22,450."