Sensex flat ahead of Friday's no-trust motion

By Krishna V Kurup

(Reuters) - Indian shares were muted on Thursday with losses in heavyweights such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd offsetting gains in consumer stocks including Hindustan Unilever Ltd, a day ahead of a no-confidence motion against the government.

The broader NSE Nifty was flat at 10,980.35 as of 0717 GMT while the benchmark BSE Sensex edged up 0.19 percent to 36,441.69.

On Friday, the parliament will debate a no-confidence motion tabled by opposition parties against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Wednesday, the first day of the monsoon session.

Broader Asian shares struggled to hold earlier gains made after upbeat Wall Street earnings, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.19 percent.

"The participation is sort of muted with individual portfolios not doing well. Only Nifty-based portfolios are protected ... frustrating investors," said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities.

"They are disappointed their portfolio values do not seem to reflect Nifty's bullishness seen in recent times," Jasani said.

Nifty mid-cap 50 index fell as much as 1.8 percent and is down over 13 percent this year as of last close.

Technicals suggest Nifty has strong support at 10,929 points where as 11,046 acts as a strong resistance. The BSE index, which hit a record high on Wednesday, has strong support at 36,278 and resistance at 36,692.

Housing Development Finance Corp and Tata Consultancy Services, down nearly 1 percent each, were the top drags on the NSE index.

Mid-cap IT stock Mindtree Ltd lost 12.2 percent, its biggest intraday fall since Sept. 2011. Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd and Hexaware Technologies Ltd were also trading lower.

State-run lenders, however, gained with the Nifty index of PSU banks trading 1.6 percent higher. Bank of Baroda Ltd advanced 3.9 percent.

Consumer stocks advanced, with Hindustan Unilever gaining 1.3 percent.

(Reporting by Krishna V Kurup in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Gaurav Dogra; Editing by Vyas Mohan)