By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equities markets were in for another listless day of trade Wednesday with a key index ruling flat at noon and heavyweight stock Reliance Industries dragging the market.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,077.85 points, was trading at 18,071.26 points, 6.35 points or 0.04 percent down from its previous close at 18,077.61 points.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty was also ruling flat at 5,430.6 points.
Broader markets indices were doing a tad better, with the BSE midcap index 0.41 percent up and the BSE smallcap index 0.68 percent higher.
Auto, healthcare and consumer durables scrips were on the rise, while energy stocks saw some selling.
The market breadth was positive, with 1,539 scrips advancing, compared to 1,118 stocks declining, and 120 remaining unchanged.
Among the gainers on the Sensex were M&M, up 1.94 percent at Rs.652.10; Tata Steel, up 1.47 percent at Rs.537.50; Tata Power, up 1.46 percent at Rs.1,341; and Cipla, up 1.26 percent at Rs.330.05.
The Reliance Industries scrip was down 1.3 percent at Rs.1,039.80 a day after posting a 32 percent rise in net profit.
Among other losers were ICICI Bank, down 0.83 percent at Rs.916.50; ACC, down 0.63 percent at Rs.843.20, and DLF, down 0.47 percent at Rs.318.
A strong earnings season for domestic companies saw major Asian markets trade higher Wednesday. While futures expiry also helped, some amount of profit taking was also visible.
The Japanese Nikkei closed 2.7 percent higher at 9,753.27 points, while the South Korean Kospi ended with a 0.29 percent gain at 1,773.47 points.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.52 percent at 21,082.05 points, while the Chinese Shanghai Composite index was trading 2.26 percent higher at 2,633.58 points.