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Markets have erased morning gains to trade flat in the noon deals with the Sensex up 48 points at 20,176 and the Nifty was unchanged at 6,038. The gains in the It heavyweights is presently helping the key indices to stay in the positive territory.
In the broader markets, the mid and the smallcap indices slipped 0.1-0.4%, underperforming the BSE benchmark index which was up marginally by 0.3%.
World stocks took a breather on Friday but were set for a fourth week of back-to-back gains following some forecast-busting U.S. earnings and assurances from the Federal Reserve about its plans for stimulus withdrawal.
Asian trading had been choppy, with profit-taking on Japan's Nikkei ahead of Upper House elections on Sunday matched by yen buying. Wall Street finished at another record high overnight, although disappointing Google and Microsoft results after the bell dampened the mood slightly.
The Nikkei ended down 218.59 points at 14,589.91, holding below 14,596, the 61.8 percent retracement of its slide from May 23 to June 13. Earlier in the session, it climbed to 14,953.29.
European markets started on a negative note with all the major indices in the red. CAC, DAX and FTSE slipped 0.5% each in the opening deals.
Back home, among the sectoral indices, IT, Teck, Auto, Oil & Gas and FMCH indices were in the green, trading up 0.3-3%. All the other indices were in the red, with Power and Capital Goods losing as much as 2% in the noon deals.
The top gainers among the Sensex-30 were TCS, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors and Infosys up 2% each.
Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, Coal India and Wipro gaining 1% each were the other notable gainers.
Among the losers were BHEL, Jindal Steel, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Sterlite, NTPC and Tata Power losing 2-6.5%.
The market breadth was negative owing to weakness in broader markets. 1,118 stocks advanced while 889 stocks declined on the BSE.
