Markets flat, Sensex up 200 pts from low

Markets turned flat after staging a recovery in late-morning trades. The Sensex recovered nearly 200 points from the day's low and is now at 17,530 - up 49 points. Nifty is up 13 points at 5,271.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Hang Seng dropped 1% to 19,193. Nikkei was down 2% at 8,659. Greece's shock decision to hold a referendum on its euro zone bail-out package dragged markets in US and Asia as investors tried to look for safer investment opportunities.

BSE metal and realty indices continued to languish with the BSE metal index down 0.8% at 11,631. Realty index dropped 0.5% at 1,875.

Meanwhile, the oil & gas index gained 0.6% on the back of buying in index heavyweigt, Reliance. RIL is the top contributor to Sensex stocks, and is up 1% at Rs 870.

From the auto space, Bajaj Auto gained 2% at Rs 1,747. Mahindra & Mahindra added1.5% to Rs 847. Among other gainers are HDFC Bank, Tata POwer and Sun Pharma.

Meanwhile, Hero Motocorp dropped 1.7% to Rs 2,104. Wipro shed 1% to Rs 369. Metal names like Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and Hindalco were down. Coal India, NTPC from the PSU pack were down in trades.

BSE market breadth was marginally positive. Out of 2,363 stocks traded, 1,182 shares advanced while 1,081 shares declined.