Mumbai, Sep 17 (IANS): Indian equity indices opened flat on Tuesday following mixed cues from Asian peers.

At 9.42 a.m., Sensex was up 21 points or 0.03 per cent at 83,010 and Nifty was up 15 points or 0.06 per cent at 25,397. Nifty Bank was up 89 points or 0.17 per cent at 52,242.

Marginal selling was seen in the midcap and smallcap stocks. Nifty midcap 100 index was down 51 points or 0.08 per cent at 60,208 and Nifty smallcap 100 index was 58 points or 0.30 per cent at 19,478.

Among the sectoral indices, Auto, PSU Bank, metal, realty and energy were top gainers. IT, FMCG and fin service were top laggards.

In the Sensex, HUL, NTPC, Nestle, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, L&T, Titan, ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers. Tata Motors, TCS, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, Wipro, UltraTech Cement, Infosys and Wipro were the top losers.

Mixed trading is taking place in Asian markets. Tokyo, Bangkok and Shanghai are in the red. Jakarta and Hong Kong are in the green. The US markets closed mixed on Monday.

According to the market experts, "Globally equity markets were flat yesterday signalling a wait-and-watch mood in anticipation of the Fed rate action tomorrow. The Fed rate action will depend on the incoming data and evolving outlook and, therefore, what the Fed chief Powell says will be crucial. Rate cuts are positive for markets and higher rate cuts are more positive."

"Banking stocks have been exhibiting strength recently and there are signs of accumulation in these attractively valued segments," they added.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 1,634 crore on September 16, while domestic institutional investors also bought equities worth Rs 734 crore on the same day.