Mumbai, Oct 1 : The Indian benchmark indices opened with mild gains on Wednesday, as investors await the decision of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy decision.

As of 9.30 am, the Sensex was up 144 points, or 0.18 per cent at 80,412 and the Nifty advanced 17 points, or 0.07 per cent at 24,628.

The broad cap indices, Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100, inched up 0.52 and 0.29 per cent respectively. Shriram Finance, Tech Mahindra, Trent and Tata Consumer Products are among the major gainers on the Nifty pack, while losers include Bajaj Finance, Interglobe Aviation, Bajaj Finserv and SBI Life Insurance.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Media, the top gainer, advanced 1.74 per cent. Nifty Pharma (up 1.24 per cent) and Nifty Realty (up 1.30 per cent) were other major gainers.

Analysts said that banking stocks will be the focus of attention since a rate cut at this juncture will impact their NIMs and their stock prices. A pause by the MPC will impart resilience to the banking stocks, they said.

Amid the continuing market weakness and decline caused by sustained selling from foreign institutional investors (FIIs), analysts recommended systematic investment in high-quality large-cap stocks, emphasising that patience is essential for long-term wealth creation.

According to market experts, Nifty can find support at 24,550, followed by 24,500 and 24,450. On the higher side, 24,650 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 24,700 and 24,750.

The US markets ended in the green zone overnight, as Nasdaq edged up 0.31 per cent, the S&P 500 added 0.41 per cent, and the Dow moved up 0.18 per cent in the last trading session.

The Asian markets were trading mixed during the morning session following gains on Wall Street as investors appeared unperturbed by a looming US government shutdown.

While China's Shanghai index added 0.52 per cent, and Shenzhen advanced 0.35 per cent, Japan's Nikkei declined 1.17 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.81 per cent. South Korea's Kospi added 0.60 per cent.

On Tuesday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 2,327 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 5,761 crore.

/IANS