Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 4 (ANI): Indian stock markets opened flat on Wednesday, with the Sensex and Nifty trading in the red, even as the recent return of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to domestic equities continued to support investor sentiment.

The Nifty 50 index opened at 23,742.25, declining 68.60 points or 0.29 per cent, while the BSE Sensex opened at 76,853.11, down 64.74 points or 0.08 per cent.

Market expert V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, said there has been a distinct change in market sentiment following the reversal in the FII investment trend towards India.

He said foreign investors had been consistent sellers over the last two years, putting pressure on domestic equities, but their stance has changed in recent sessions.

'In five out of the last six trading days, FIIs have been buyers in the market. They bought stocks for Rs 18661 crores,' Vijayakumar said.

He added that the volume of foreign investor buying was increasing, with better-than-expected corporate earnings and attractive valuations in large-cap stocks providing fundamental support to the market rally.

According to him, weakening of the AI trade has also supported the return of foreign investors. He expects large-cap stocks to lead the rally as they have the potential to attract significant FII inflows. He also said leading financial stocks have further room to move up.

In the sectoral indices on the NSE, trading remained mixed during the opening session. Nifty IT declined 1 per cent, while Nifty Pharma fell 0.36 per cent and Nifty Realty lost 0.61 per cent.

On the other hand, Nifty Auto gained 0.32 per cent, Nifty FMCG advanced 0.46 per cent, Nifty PSU Bank rose 0.31 per cent, and Nifty Private Bank edged up 0.04 per cent.

Among the Nifty 50 stocks, SBI, ITC, Max Healthcare, IndiGo and BEL were among the top gainers. BSE, NTPC, Hindalco, Power Grid and Tata Steel were among the major losers.

Vijayakumar said market participants would also be watching the outcome of the US elections, adding that the political developments could have implications for US markets and potentially benefit India.

In commodities, Brent crude oil prices declined 0.33 per cent to USD 103.22 per barrel at the time of reporting. Prices have been on a downward trend since the beginning of the week, although they remain high compared with their long-term average.

Gold prices slipped 0.16 per cent to Rs 1,39,230 per 10 grams for 24-karat gold, while silver declined 1.02 per cent to Rs 1,77,862 per kg.

Asian markets were largely under pressure. Japan's Nikkei 225 declined more than 4 per cent to 60,390, while Singapore's Straits Times fell 0.09 per cent to 5,200. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.23 per cent. Taiwan's Weighted Index declined 2.4 per cent to 42,253, while South Korea's KOSPI fell 3.69 per cent to 5,440. (ANI)