Mumbai, Jul 18 (IANS): Indian equity indices opened in the red on Thursday following profit-booking midcap and smallcap stocks.

At 9:46 a.m., Sensex was down 102 points or 0.13 per cent, at 80,608 and Nifty was at 24,588, down 17 points or 0.07 per cent.

Selling is being seen in the midcap and smallcap. Nifty midcap 100 index is down 482 points or 0.77 per cent, at 57,181.20 and Nifty smallcap 100 index is 168 points or 0.89 per cent, at 18,893.

Among the sectoral indices, Auto, metal, realty, media, and PSE are the major losers. FMCG and pvt bank are the major gainers.

Sun Pharma, HCS Tech, Infosys, TCS, Axis Bank, SBI, and M&M are the top gainers in the Sensex pack. Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, NTPC, JSW, Reliance, HDFC Bank and NTPC are the top losers.

Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, "Nifty can find support at 24,550 followed by 24,500 and 24,400. On the higher side, 24,650 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 24,700 and 24,800."

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their support as they purchased equities worth Rs 1271 crore, while domestic institutional investors extended their selling as they sold equities worth Rs 529 crore, on July 16.

Mixed trading is taking place in Asian markets. There is a decline in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Seoul, while the markets of Hong Kong, Bangkok and Jakarta are in the green. US markets closed mixed on Wednesday.