Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS): Indian equity indices opened flat on Tuesday following mixed cues from the global market.

At 9.40 a.m., Sensex was down 67 points or 0.08 per cent at 81,631 and Nifty was down 35 points or 0.14 per cent at 24,975.

Buying is seen in midcap and smallcap stocks compared to largecap stocks. The Nifty midcap 100 index is at 59,117, up 185 points or 0.32 per cent and the Nifty smallcap 100 index is at 19,183, up 51 points or 0.27 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, IT, PSU Bank, pharma, FMCG, media and PSE are major gainers. Fin Service, auto, metal and realty are major laggards.

The market trend remains positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,299 shares are in the green and 654 shares in the red.

In the Sensex pack, HCL Tech, L&T, Power Grid, Infosys, Nestle, UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma, ITC, Titan, Bajaj Finserv and Wipro are the top gainers. Kotak Mahindra Bank, M&M, HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank are the top losers.

Almost all Asian markets (excluding Tokyo) are in decline. Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul and Jakarta are major losers. The US markets closed mixed on Monday.

According to market experts, "There are both headwinds and tailwinds for the market now. Headwinds are coming from the escalation of the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine. Brent crude has shot up above 81 dollars. The strongest tailwind comes from the expected rate cuts by the Fed which will spill over to other central banks, including the RBI.

"The Indian economy now needs monetary stimulus through rate cuts and this is likely in the next policy meeting," they added.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their buying as they bought equities worth Rs 483 crore on August 26, while domestic institutional investors also bought equities worth Rs 1,870 crore on the same day.