Mumbai, July 5 : India equity indices opened in the red on Friday following profit booking in largecap stocks.

At 9:50 a.m., Sensex was down 510 points or 0.64 per cent at 79,538 and Nifty was down 88 points or 0.36 per cent at 24,214.

Broader markets are in an uptrend. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1213 shares are in the green and 1001 shares are in the red.

Buying is seen in the smallcap and midcap stocks. The Nifty midcap 100 index is up 60 points or 0.11 per cent at 56,679 and the Nifty smallcap 100 index is up 47 points or 0.25 per cent at 18,840.

In the Sensex pack, HUL, L&T, JSW Steel, Wipro, Sun Pharma, NTPC and SBI are the top gainers. HDFC Bank, M&M, Tata Steel, Titan, Power Grid, and Bajaj Finance are the top losers.

Banking stocks are leading the market fall. Nifty Bank is down more than 700 points.

Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking said, "Nifty can find support at 24,200 followed by 24,100 and 24,000. On the higher side, 24,400 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 24,450 and 24,500."

Mixed trading is taking place in the markets of Asia. Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong are in the red. Jakarta, Bangkok and Seoul are in the green. The US markets were closed on Wednesday.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their buying as they bought equities worth Rs 2,575 crore on July 4, while domestic institutional investors extended their selling as they sold equities worth Rs 2,375 crore.

/IANS