Sensex, Nifty trade flat as metal, auto shares offset gains in banks, financials

Indian equity markets erased marginal gains on Wednesday afternoon. The broader trade sentiment remained cautious as investors watch September quarter earnings for companies after the government's corporate tax cut, amid a rise in inflation and hopes of further rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of India.

At 12.38 pm, the benchmark 30-share S&P BSE Sensex traded 96 points higher, or 0.25 percent, at 38,603. The broader 50-share NSE Nifty50 added 35 points, or 0.31 percent, to trade at 11,463.

Broader market indices underperformed with both the Nifty MidCap 100 and BSE MidCap trading flat. Among sectors, bank, IT, finance, pharma and IT advanced, while FMCG, auto, metal, capital goods and consumer durables declined.

Among shares, ZEEL, BPCL, Grasim, Bajaj Finance and Wipro were top gainers, rising between 2 and 6.5 percent. Hindalco, Vedanta, Hero MotoCorp, Adani Ports and Power Grid were top laggards, falling by up to 2.6 percent.

Wipro shares were up about 2.7 percent after the company reported a better-than-expected September-quarter earnings and also gave an optimistic revenue forecast for the next quarter.

Among other companies that reported earnings on Tuesday, ACC Ltd rose 2.69 percent, while Multi Commodity Exchange of India was up about 7 percent.

Shares of Multicommodity Exchange of India (MCX) gained 9 percent on Wednesday on robust Q2 results. The sentiment was also bullish after global brokerage Morgan Stanley raised the stock's target and said that it expects the price to double in three years.

Bajaj Consumer Care ltd or Bajajcon shares hit the 20 percent upper circuit in intra-day trade at Rs 234.65 per share on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The rupee opened at 71.26 then fell to 71.33 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 10 paise over its previous closing. The Indian rupee on Monday had closed at 71.23 against the US dollar.

The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.50 per cent in morning trade.