Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 12 (ANI): Indian equity markets opened marginally lower on Thursday amid a continuing tug of war between foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and domestic institutional investors (DIIs), with foreign investors turning aggressive buyers while domestic investors continued selling.

The NSE Nifty 50 index opened at 25,227.50, declining 26.30 points or 0.10 per cent, while the BSE Sensex opened at 81,827.20, down 52.20 points or 0.06 per cent.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, said the recent market rally has been primarily driven by aggressive buying by foreign institutional investors.

'The Nifty rally of 9.55% in seven trading sessions so far in November is being led primarily by the aggressive buying by the FIIs. The tug of war between the FIIs and DIIs till November saw the FIIs on the sell side and DIIs on the buy side. Now the positions have been completely reversed with FIIs turning aggressive buyers and DIIs turning consistent sellers. This FIIs vs DIIs position will set the market trend in the near-term,' he said.

Vijayakumar added that the trend of foreign investors buying and domestic investors selling is likely to continue and could potentially take the market to an all-time high.

He said impressive earnings growth, reflected in the good Q2 results, and relief on the macroeconomic front due to lower crude oil prices, with Brent around USD 92, could support the market rally. However, continued profit booking by DIIs may limit further gains.

Investors are also keeping an eye on the October CPI inflation data, which is an important indicator for the market. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October 2026 in India is scheduled for release on Thursday.

Vijayakumar said there is a risk of the inflation reading coming in around 6 per cent.

He added that a 25 basis points rate hike in December, followed by another 25 basis points hike in February, is on the cards, which could impact rate-sensitive sectors.

In the broader markets, the Nifty Midcap 100 gained 0.12 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 advanced 0.38 per cent. The Nifty 100, however, declined marginally by 0.12 per cent in early trade.

Sectoral indices showed mixed trends. The Nifty Auto index declined 0.34 per cent, while Nifty IT lost 0.71 per cent and Nifty Pharma fell 0.27 per cent. The Nifty Private Bank index was down 0.03 per cent.

On the other hand, Nifty FMCG gained 0.02 per cent, Nifty Media advanced 0.12 per cent, Nifty Metal rose 0.09 per cent and Nifty PSU Bank gained 0.11 per cent.

In commodities, Brent crude oil prices declined 1 per cent to USD 91.78 per barrel at the time of reporting. Gold prices fell 0.39 per cent to Rs 1,39,165 per 10 grams for 24-carat gold, while silver declined 0.94 per cent to Rs 1,82,785 per kg.

Asian markets also showed mixed trends. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined 1 per cent to 24,090, while Singapore's Straits Times index was down 0.06 per cent to 5,289. Among markets trading in positive territory, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.24 per cent, Taiwan's weighted index was marginally higher at 44,252, and South Korea's KOSPI index advanced 0.28 per cent to 5,399. (ANI)