Mumbai, Dec 10 (IANS): The Indian stock market opened flat on Tuesday as selling was seen in Nifty's auto, energy, private bank and Infra sector in early trade.

At around 9:23 am, Sensex was trading at 81,533.01 after gaining 24.55 points or 0.03 per cent, while the Nifty was trading at 24,633 after rising 14.05 points or 0.06 per cent.

The market trend remained positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,508 stocks were trading in green, while 667 stocks were in red.

Experts said that the market is likely to move in a narrow consolidation pattern in the near-term. There are no major triggers that can push the market into a new bull orbit.

"There are no major triggers that can cause a deep correction from the current levels. Within the range, there are significant down moves and up moves. FMCG stocks are facing selling pressure due to the tepid growth phase they are going through," they added.

Nifty Bank was up 11.15 points or 0.02 per cent at 53,418.90. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 59,045.35 after gaining 46.60 points or 0.08 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 19,584 after gaining 55.40 points or 0.28 per cent.

In the Sensex pack, Power Grid, JSW Steel, Infosys, Asian Paints, SBI, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, HCL Tech and Sun Pharma were the top gainers. Whereas, M&M, Titan, Maruti, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement and TCS were the top losers.

In Asian markets, Jakarta and Bangkok were trading in red. while China, Hong Kong, Seoul and Japan were trading in green. The US stock markets closed in red on the previous trading day.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 724.27 crore on December 9, while domestic institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 1,648.07 crore on the same day.