Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 30 : The Indian equity markets opened on a flattish note on Friday amid elevated Brent crude oil prices, renewed geopolitical tensions and weak global cues.
Both the indices opened with a gap-up. Sensex opened at 74,199.69 and was trading at around 74,236.30, up 85.26 points or 0.11 per cent against the previous close of 74,151.04. Similarly, Nifty opened at 22,964.50 and was trading at around 22,956.00, up 19.25 points or 0.08 per cent against the previous close of 22,936.75 at the time of reporting. 
All broad market indices traded in the red; most sectoral indices extended losses; however, IT and mid-small IT & telecom traded in the green, emerging as top gainers in the early morning trade. On the other hand, Nifty cement emerged as the top loser, shedding over a per cent. 
On BSE, Trent, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Indi Go, TCS, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Power Grid, Eternal, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank, ITC, Adani Ports, among others were the top gainers. BEL, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Titan, Reliance, Hindustan Unilever, LT, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, M&M, among others, were the top drags. 
Likewise, on NSE, Trent, Sun Pharma, Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Indi Go, Eternal, Power Grid, Cipla, Max Health, Maruti, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, among others were the top gainers. Coal India, Nestle, BEL, Asian Paints, Titan, Adani Ports, SBIN, BSE, Bajaj Finserv, JSW Steel, Reliance, TMPV, ITC, among others, were the top laggards. 
In the commodity market, Brent crude was trading at around USD 112.13 per barrel while crude oil was trading at around USD 103.15 per barrel, at the time of reporting. 
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, noted, "The crude oil headwind is getting stronger with Brent rising above USD 117. There are reports of the US likely resuming strikes against Iran after the mid-term elections which is due on November 3rd. Even though FII selling has turned weak with occasional buys in recent days, the market construct appears unfavourable for a rally.” 
“An interesting trend is the rally in the small-cap segment after the brutal selloff during last week. Since the selloff was triggered by forced liquidation of margin-funded long positions, DIIs and investors are using the opportunity to buy growth stocks in this segment despite their high valuations. Sustained capital flows into mid-and small-cap funds facilitate accumulation of these stocks. However, investors should keep in mind the fact that value buying opportunities are in large-caps which are temporarily out of favour due to FII selling,” he said. 
Market analyst Vipin Dixena noted, “After Thursday's strong recovery, the Indian market is now entering an important session where sustaining those gains will be crucial.” 
He further noted that elevated Brent crude oil prices, driven by renewed geopolitical tensions and concerns over potential disruptions to Saudi oil infrastructure, could increase India's import bill and fuel inflation. He also cautioned that weakness in Asian equity markets and Wall Street technology stocks could limit gains in Indian stock markets.
“Nifty's immediate resistance is around 23,000–23,100, while 22,850–22,800 remains an important support zone. A sustained move above 23,000 could strengthen the recovery, whereas a break below support may bring selling pressure back,” he said.