Markets continue to trade flat

Market breadth was weak with 1239 losers and 1078 gainers on the BSE.

Benchmark share indices continued to trade flat in noon trades as traders remained cautious ahead of the expiry of January derivative contracts today. 

Further, the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged which was in line with expectations but said that it was "closely monitoring" global economic and financial developments. 

At 2 p.m, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 63 points at 24,555 and the Nifty50 was trading up 22 points at 7,460. In the broader market, BSE Midcap index was down 0.2% and BSE Smallcap index is trading unchanged.

Market breadth was weak with 1239 losers and 1078 gainers on the BSE. 

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in equities to the tune of Rs 367 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional stock exchange data. 

RESULTS CALENDAR 

Some of the Sensex companies due to release the December quarter earnings today such as ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki and Bharti Airtel. 

SECTORS & STOCKS 

BSE Capital Goods index was the top loser down 1.2% followed by Realty, Bankex and Consumer Durables. FMCG, Power and Healthcare indices were among the top gainers. 

HDFC was down 1.5% contributing the most to the Sensex decline after it posted marginal  6.7 growth in standalone net profit at Rs 1,521 crore for the third quarter ended December 2015, on lower income from investments and higher provisions for standard loans. 

ICICI Bank was down 1.8% and Maruti Suzuki eased 1% ahead of their third quarter earnings later today.  

Shares of mobile service providers were trading with losses after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has proposed auction of 700 MHz spectrum at a reserve price of Rs 11,485 crore per MHz. Reliance Communications was down 1.3%, Bharti Airtel eased 1.5% while Idea Cellular was down 1.1%. 

Other Sensex losers include, L&T, Infosys, and Axis Bank among others. 

However, FMCG shares witnessed renewed buying interest with ITC and Hindustan Unilever up 1.6%-1.9% each. 

Sun Pharma extended gains and was up 1.2% after its subsidiary SPARC received market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) nod to raise up to Rs 250 crore via rights issue. Among others Lupin and Dr Reddy's Labs were up 0.8%-1.5% each.  

Other gainers include, M&M, TCS and NTPC among others. 

Among others, Neyveli Lignite Corporation was down over 4% on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company reported 85% drop in net profit at Rs 47.6 crore for the quarter ended December 31,2015 compared with Rs 309.5 crore because of lower sales and higher other expenditure. 

Punj Lloyd gained over 4% on the BSE after the company said it has won the 459 km of the 48" diameter Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) in Turkey worth Rs 2,780 crore (US$ 409 million) in joint venture with Limak (50-50) share.