Mumbai, Dec 3 (IANS): The Indian stock market opened almost flat on Tuesday as buying was seen in the PSU bank sector in early trade.

At around 9:46 am, the Sensex was trading at 80,349.11 after rising 101.03 points or 0.13 per cent, while the Nifty was trading at 24,302.85 after rising 26.80 points or 0.11 per cent.

The market trend remained positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,864 stocks were trading in green, while 421 stocks were in red.

According to market experts, the underlying resilience of the market is evident in its ability to bounce back. Market is focusing not on the GDP growth slowdown but on the likely policy response to this slowdown.

"Banking stocks bouncing back yesterday indicates that the market is expecting a CRR cut on Friday, which will boost the profitability of banks," they added.

Nifty Bank was up 337.30 points or 0.65 per cent at 52,446.30. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 57,353.65 after gaining 352.80 points or 0.62 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 19,019.30 after gaining 174.25 points or 0.92 per cent.

Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research at Axis Securities said, "The Nifty rose for a second straight day, and is now at a point where a potential head-and-shoulders bottom may be confirmed. The level to watch out for is 24315 for the day, and any close above this hurdle will activate the pattern with a smaller upside objective near 24,800 followed by the larger target near 25,500."

"Any drop that brings the market below 23,873 after pattern confirmation will force this bullish take to be reviewed. In the meantime, the 24360 - 24540 area continues to remain significant," he added.

In the Sensex pack, Adani Ports, SBI, HDFC Bank, JSW Steel, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel and Bajaj Finance were the top gainers. While ITC, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, M&M and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top losers.

In Asian markets, the markets of Seoul, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Jakarta were trading in green. In US stock markets the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended 0.24 per cent and 0.97 per cent higher, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.29 per cent down on the previous trading day.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 238 crore on December 2, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 3,588 crore on the same day.