Sensex, Nifty open on a flat note; HDFC Bank, Eternal, Sun Pharma, Maruti top losers 

The stock market opened on a flat note on Tuesday amid US and Iran trading attacks. Brent crude oil prices remained static at $83 per barrel mark today, a level last seen on Monday. Sensex rose 5 pts to 77,714 and Nifty gained 10 pts to 24,248.  Stocks such as HDFC Bank, Eternal, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries and M&M were the top losers on Sensex, falling up to 1.11% on Tuesday. Tech Mahindra, IndiGo, Ultratech Cement, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel were the top gainers , rising  up to 1.70%.

"From a technical perspective, the market's trading range has narrowed, but a decisive breakout is still awaited. The key levels to watch remain 24,000/76,800 on the downside and 24,350/78,300 on the upside. As long as these levels remain intact on a closing basis, stock-specific action is likely to dominate. A close below 24,000/76,800 could open the doors for a decline towards 23,800/76,200, whereas a sustained move above 24,350/78,300 may pave the way for a retest of 24,500/78,700. The preferred strategy is to reduce weak long positions in the 24,350–24,450 (78,300–78,600) zone, while remaining selective in accumulating quality stocks on declines around the 24000 level," said Shrikant Chauhan, head equity research at Kotak Securities.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments said, "In the near-term, the market will be unduly influenced by the trends in crude price. Even though the softening of the Brent crude to about $88 level is a positive sign the uncertainty is so huge that there is an upside risk to crude price. This will weigh on markets. The FPI selling is not large enough to impact the market. It is easily getting absorbed by DII buying."

Previous session

Sensex ended 443 pts lower at 77,708. Nifty slipped 96 pts to 24,238 on Monday.