MUMBAI: The Indian stock market opened flat on Friday ahead of the announcement of the RBI’s monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting. The market is keeping a close eye on the decision around repo and CRR rates.

At around 9:23 am, Sensex was trading at 81,775.54 after gaining 9.68 points or 0.01 per cent, while the Nifty was trading at 24,712.35 after rising 3.95 points or 0.02 per cent.

The market trend remained positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,500 stocks were trading in green, while 647 stocks were in red.

According to market experts, FIIs turning buyers in December, in total reversal of their sustained selling strategy during the last two months, has altered the market sentiments in favour of the bulls.

“Encouraged by the FII buying, retail investors, too, have jumped on to the buying bandwagon. This has triggered short-covering leading to sharp intra-day volatility,” they added.

The policy response of the RBI and the central bank’s commentary on the growth and inflation outlook will be keenly watched by the market.

Nifty Bank was down 63.45 points or 0.12 per cent at 53,540.10. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 58,486.70 after gaining 45.15 points or 0.08 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 19,356.90 after gaining 23.35 points or 0.12 per cent.

In the Sensex pack, ICICI Bank, ITC, M&M, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, JSW Steel, IndusInd Bank and Asian Paints were the top gainers. Tata Motors, Infosys, TCS, L&T and SBI were the top losers.

In Asian markets, the markets of Seoul and Japan were trading in red, while China, Hong Kong, Jakarta and Bangkok were trading in green. The US stock markets closed in red on the previous trading day.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 8,539.91 crore on December 5, while domestic institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 2,303.64 crore on the same day.