Mumbai, Oct 15 (IANS): The Indian benchmark indices closed in the red on Tuesday, as auto, IT, and PSU banks remained under pressure.

The BSE Sensex closed at 81,820.12 after slipping 152.93 points or 0.19 per cent.

NSE Nifty closed at 25,057.35 after slipping 70.60 points or 0.28 per cent.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed in the green mark at 59,593.25 after rising 127.80 points or 0.21 per cent. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 26,149.10 after slipping 48.80 points or 0.19 per cent. Nifty Bank closed at 51,906.00 after gaining 89.10 points or 0.17 per cent.

Buying was seen in Nifty's realty, Media and FMCG sectors.

At the same time, there was pressure on the auto, IT, PSU Bank, pharma, metal, energy, healthcare and oil and gas sectors.

The market trend remained positive. On BSE, 2,073 shares were trading in green and 1,879 shares in red. About 112 shares closed without any change.

ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, HCL Tech, Adani Ports, ITC, and NTPC were among the top gainers at Sensex. Wipro, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, and JSW Steel were the top losers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) increased their selling on Monday and sold equities worth Rs 3,731.59 crore. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also increased their buying and they bought equities worth Rs 2,278.09 crore on the same day.

According to market experts, "the domestic market experienced a downturn, influenced by a mixed global trend and partial profit-booking".

"Although declining crude prices are beneficial for the domestic economy, they signal weakening global demand. Additionally, India’s CPI surged driven by food prices, which will delay expected rate cuts," they noted.

"The India VIX increased by 0.06% to 13.0025, indicating a slight rise in market volatility. While this reflects some caution, the overall low level suggests that market stability persists." said analysts.