Mumbai, Nov 14 : The Indian benchmark indices opened in the red zone on Friday, amid negative global cues due to fading hopes of US Fed rate cut and persistent selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), as counting went underway for Bihar poll results.

As of 9.25 am, the Sensex declined 292 points, or 0.35 per cent to 84,185 and the Nifty dipped 85 points, or 0.33 per cent to 25,794.

The broadcap indices performed in contrast to the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 up 0.27 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 advanced 0.15 per cent.

Sectoral indices on NSE were trading mixed with FMCG (down 0.28 per cent), IT (down 0.94 per cent), Auto (down 0.35 per cent) and Metal (down 0.54 per cent) being the main laggards. Nifty Media was the standout gainer, up 0.72 per cent.

Analysts said that the reaction to Bihar election results will be only temporary, though it will dominate the market today. The market's medium- to long-term trend will depend on fundamentals, especially earnings growth. On this front there is room for optimism as indicated by prospects of robust GDP growth and improving earnings growth, they added.

Analysts placed immediate resistance for Nifty at 25,950, followed by 26,000, and support at 25,700 and 25,750 zones.

Asia-Pacific markets dropped in early trading sessions, tracking losses on Wall Street as technology stocks continued their decline and hopes of Fed rate cuts dwindled.

The US markets ended in the red zone overnight, as Nasdaq continued its decline, slipping 2.29 per cent, the S&P 500 dropped 1.66 per cent, and the Dow lost 1.65 per cent.

In Asian markets, China's Shanghai index dipped 1 per cent, and Shenzhen dipped 1.09 per cent, Japan's Nikkei dipped 1.65 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 1 per cent. South Korea's Kospi dipped 2 per cent.

On Thursday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 384 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 3,092 crore.

/IANS