Markets remain flat; Tata Power, Sesa Sterlite up 2%

Sun Pharma, ITC, HUL, Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki are the top five Sensex losers

Benchmark indices continue to trade in a tight range with negative bias weighed down by index heavyweights ITC and HDFC. However, buying in metal and capital goods segments has capped the downslide.

By 10:40, the Sensex was lower by 27 points at 27,770 mark and the Nifty slipped by 8 points at 8,333.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained between 0.5-1%.

The market breadth in BSE remains healthy 1,230 shares advancing and 842 shares declining.

The losers on the Sensex are Sun Pharma, ITC, HUL, Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki.

On the gaining side, Tata Power, Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco, Hero Moto and ONGC have gained between 1-2%.

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Updated at 9:30

Markets have turned choppy after opening slightly lower tracking weak global cues.

Investors booked profits yesterday across the board, amid a sell-off in Chinese shares, with state-owned oil exploration major ONGC leading the decline.

By 9:30, the Sensex was lower by 17 points at 27,780 mark and the Nifty slipped by 2 points at 8,339.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.2-0.3%.

The market breadth in BSE remains positive with 749 shares advancing and 326 shares declining.

Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net Rs 221.52 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

The government will unveil industrial production data for October 2014 and annual rate of inflation based on the combined consumer price indices (CPI) for urban and rural India for November 2014 on Friday.

On the global front, Japanese stocks tumbled to a more than one-week low on Wednesday morning, as political uncertainty in Greece spooked world markets already under strain from a slide in crude oil prices and worries over global growth.

The resulting flight to safety drove the yen higher and took a toll on exporters.

The Nikkei benchmark dropped 1.5% to 17,542.67 in mid-morning trade after falling to as low as 17,518.05 earlier, the lowest since Dec. 2.

China's annual consumer inflation eased to a five-year low of 1.4% in November from 1.6% in October, the lowest since November 2009, signalling persistent weakness in the world's second-largest economy and giving policymakers more room to ease policy to support growth.

Back home, BSE FMCG index has slipped by nearly 1% followed by counters like Auto, Capital Goods and Healthcare, all declining marginally. However, BSE Metal index has gained by nearly 1%.

The main losers on the Sensex are Tata Motors, ITC, M&M, Sun Pharma, L&T and HUL.

Tata Motors has lost around 1.5% over growth concerns in China, one of its major markets.

On the gaining side, Tata Power, Hindalco, Hero Moto, Bharti Airtel and ONGC have gained between 1-2%.

Shares of Bharti Airtel  is trading higher by 1% at Rs 358 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in early morning deal on reports that the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has set aside a penalty of Rs 650 crore imposed on the company by Department of Telecommunication (DOT) in a roaming case.

GAIL has gained 0.4%. UP Government has agreed to constitute high power committee for GAIL’s Jagdishpur - Haldia pipeline.