Mumbai, Oct 29 (IANS): After a bumper opening to Diwali week, the Indian stock market opened in the red on Tuesday as selling was seen in auto, IT, financial services and pharma sectors.

The Sensex was trading at 79,660.76, after falling 344.28 points or 0.43 per cent. At the same time, Nifty was trading at 24,257.70, after falling 81.45 points or 0.03 per cent in the opening trade.

The market trend remains mixed. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 635 stocks were trading in the green, while 405 stocks were trading in the red.

Nifty Bank was at 51,404.35 after rising 145.05 points or 0.28 per cent. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 55,728.40 level after slipping 8.20 points or 0.01 per cent. At the same time, the Nifty Small cap 100 index was at 18,065.00 after gaining 2.70 points or 0.01 per cent.

NTPC, ICICI Bank, L&T and SBI Bank were the top gainers in the Sensex pack. At the same time, Bharti Airtel, M&M, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys and Axis Bank were the top losers.

NTPC, Eicher Motors, BHEL, ICICI Bank and Coal India were the top gainers in the Nifty pack. At the same time, M&M, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, Shriram Finance and HDFC Life were the top losers.

In the Asian markets, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Tokyo were trading in green. At the same time, the markets of Shanghai, Jakarta and Seoul were trading in red. The US stock market closed on the green mark on the last trading day.

According to market experts, the decline in the intensity of FII selling bodes well for the market but FIIs may continue to sell since the premium valuations of the Indian market was being questioned now in the context of concerns regarding FY25 growth and weakness in urban consumption.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 3,228 crore on October 28, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,401 crore on the same day.

On Monday, Indian stock markets experienced a significant rebound, with the Sensex surging by 602 points, closing at 80,005, and the Nifty climbing 158 points to settle at 24,339. The benchmark indices had recorded the best session in one month.