Mumbai, Jun 25 (IANS): Indian equity indices opened in the green on Tuesday following positive cues from Asian peers. At 9:55 a.m., Sensex was up 212 points or 0.27 per cent, at 77,553 and Nifty was up 53 points or 0.23 per cent, at 23,591.

Buying is being seen in midcap and smallcap stocks. Nifty Midcap 100 index is up 265 points or 0.48 per cent, at 55,842 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index is up 202 points or 1.11 per cent, at 18,417.

In the Sensex pack, Ultratech Cement, HDFC Bank, M&M, Axis Bank, SBI, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance and Tata Steel are top gainers. HCL Tech, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, Asian paints, Infosys and TCS are top losers.

Asian markets are bullish. The markets of Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Seoul are in the green. At the same time, Shanghai and Jakarta are in the red. American markets closed higher on Monday. Crude oil benchmark Brent crude is at $85 per barrel and WTI crude at $81 per barrel.

Mandar Bhojane, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, "On the daily chart, Nifty formed a bullish piercing candlestick pattern with good volume, indicating a bullish reversal from the support level of 23,400."

"If the index closes above the 23,600 level, it could further rise to 23,800 and 24,000 levels in the upcoming days. On the flip side, if the price breaks the 23,300 level, it could correct further to the 23,000 level," he added.

Among the sectoral indices, PSU banks, Auto, Fin Service, Metal and Media are major gainers. IT, FMCG and Realty are major laggards.