The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 Indexes continue to trade on a flat note as gains in Infosys, Reliance Industries, ITC and ICICI Bank were offset by losses in HDFC, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Bharti Airtel. The Sensex which declined as much as 114 points, in early trades, reclaimed 38,000 mark while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was trading near its important psychological level of 11,350.

As of 12:35 pm, the Sensex rose 17 points or 0.05 per cent to 38,048 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index was unchanged at 11,346.

Foreign institutional investors have been selling shares in the Indian markets after the government implemented the Budget proposals which called for higher taxes for individuals, trusts and association of persons earning more than Rs 2 and Rs 5 crore. Foreign investors have sold shares worth Rs 4,530 crore since Budget as analysts say most foreign investors opt to invest in equity markets in capacity of trusts.

Meanwhile, in today's session, eleven of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE were trading higher led by the S&P BSE Realty and Information Technology sector indexes 1.18 per cent gain. Power, Consumer Durables, Utilities, FMCG and Energy sector gauges were also up between 0.5 and 1 per cent each.

On the flipside, S&P BSE Finance Index was top loser, down 0.6 per cent on the back of losses in mortgage lender HDFC.

UPL was top gainer in the Nifty 50 basket of shares, the stock rose 2.22 per cent to Rs 653. Yes Bank, Power Grid, Infosys, Titan Eicher Motors, ITC, Axis Bank and Hero MotoCorp were also among the gainers.

On the other hand, HDFC, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Zee Entertainment, Bajaj Auto, Dr Reddy's Labs, HDFC Bank, Cipla and JSW Steel were among losers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,053 shares were advancing while 775 were declining on the BSE.