The Indian equity benchmarks were little changed on Thursday ahead of weekly expiry if index futures and option contracts as gains in information technology heavyweights like Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies were offset with losses in HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Auto and ICICI Bank. Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets were trading lower as Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.55 per cent, Straits Times declined 0.37 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.54 per cent after minutes of the Federal Reserve’s June policy meeting confirmed the world’s biggest central bank is moving toward tapering its asset purchases as soon as this year.The Sensex was up 19 points at 53,074 by 9:28 am and Nifty rose 4 points to 15,883.IT shares were outperforming in a flat trading session ahead of June quarter earnings by the country’s largest IT company TCS, due later in the day. Nifty IT index was among the top sectoral gainers, up 0.6 per cent. Realty, PSU Bank and Media shares were also witnessing buying interest.On the other hand, Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, FMCG and Private Bank indices were trading on a flat note.Mid- and small-cap shares were outperforming their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.53 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index climbed 0.7 per cent.Bajaj Auto was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 1.6 per cent to Rs 4,112. Tech Mahindra, Shree Cements, IndusInd Bank, Indian Oil, NTPC, Wipro and Power Grid were also among the gainers.On the flipside, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, ONGC, Hindalco, Hindustan Unilever, JSW Steel, Grasim, HDFC Bank, Tata Consumer Products, Sun Pharma and HDFC were among the losers.
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