Mumbai, Aug 22 (IANS): Indian equity indices opened in the green on Thursday following positive cues from US markets.

At 9.44 a.m., Sensex was up 194 points or 0.24 per cent at 81,099 and Nifty was up 60 points or 0.24 per cent at 24,830.

The market trend remains positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,730 shares were in green and 423 shares in the red.

In early trade, Buying was being seen in IT and FMCG stocks. The Nifty IT index was up by 0.42 per cent and the Nifty FMCG index was up by 0.48 per cent.

On the NSE indices, PSU Bank, FMCG, metal and media were other major gainers. Auto, pharma, realty and energy were trading under pressure.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index was at 58,715, up 279 points or 0.48 per cent, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 19,141, up 75 points or 0.40 per cent.

In the Sensex pack, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, HUL, HDFC Bank and SBI were the top gainers. Power Grid, M&M, Tata Motors, NTPC, TCS and Axis Bank were the top losers.

Mixed trading is taking place in Asian markets. The markets of Tokyo and Hong Kong are bullish. the markets of Shanghai, Jakarta and Seoul are in the red. The US markets closed with gains on Wednesday.

Apurva Sheth, Head of Market Perspectives and Research, SAMCO Securities said, "Vast majority of FOMC members were in favour of cutting rates in the September meeting, as they believed that inflation is on its way down towards the 2 per cent. Since the risks to the employment goal have increased the FOMC members were in favour of rate cuts. This pushed the US 10-year bond yields lower while stocks rejoiced inching closer to a new all-time high once again."

"We believe that rate cut hopes in September will keep the market participants in a buoyant mood at least till the actual rate cuts materialise," Sheth added.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 799 crore on August 21, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 3,097 crore on the same day.