FIRST TRADE: Indices open mildly lower; Sensex down nearly 40 pts, Nifty at 24,324

Indian equities tracking mixed global cues started Tuesday's session (October 29) in the green. At the open, the BSE Sensex opened marginally lower by 38.62 or 0.05 per cent at 79,966.42, while the NSE Nifty 50 was down 0.06 per cent or 15.1 points at 24,324.05.

Meanwhile, broader markets outperformed the frontline indices, with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices trading in the green.

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities said, "This Diwali week brings optimism to Dalal Street as Nifty traders celebrate a significant drop in oil prices, now below $68 a barrel, following reports that Israeli airstrikes did not target critical Iranian facilities. Banking stocks led the charge in yesterday’s trade, with ICICI Bank, Bandhan Bank, Indian Bank, and Bank of Baroda all posting robust Q2 earnings."

However, caution prevails due to upcoming US jobs data and the US Presidential election, alongside heavy FII outflows, he added.

Sectorally, in a mixed session, barring PSU Bank, realty and oil & gas indices, all other sectors witnessed selling pressure.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services noted that a positive trend in the market is that some froth in valuations has been removed as evidenced by the sharp correction in the overvalued defence-related stocks and Railways stocks. 

Stocks in action

After mostly in-line Q2 show, Bharti Airtel shares traded with a cut of over 2 per cent at Rs 1,630.05 per share.

Shares of Federal Bank after a robust set of earnings for the September quarter traded higher by nearly 7 per cent at Rs 197.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki India ahead of its Q2 show later today traded a tad lower at Rs 11,430.1 apiece on the BSE.

Asian markets

Asian stocks largely traded mixed as focus shifts to a slew of key earnings due in the coming days, while Japanese markets were trading in the green as the country's ruling coalition lost its parliamentary majority.