The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 Indexes erased losses and turned flat as gains in ITC, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, Infosys and Bajaj Finance were offset by losses in Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and HCL Technologies. The equity benchmarks opened lower with the Sensex falling as much as 337 points and the NSE Nifty 50 Index touched low of 10,924 but buying in utilities, auto and power shares in noon deals helped the recovery in equity markets.

As of 2:04 pm, the Sensex traded 63 points or 0.17 per cent higher at 37,375 an dthe NSE Nifty 50 Index rose 0.23 per cent or 25 points to 11,054.

Seven of 11 sector gauges compiled by National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty Auto Index's 0.8 per cent gain. Nifty Private Bank, PSU Bank, Realty and Banking sector gauges also rose between 0.5-0.7 per cent each.

On the flipside, Nifty Pharma Index was top loser, down 1.1 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares were trading mixed as the Nifty Midcap 100 Index rose 0.22 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 0.06 per cent.

Yes Bank was top gainer in the Nifty 50 basket of shares, the stock rose 4.9 per cent to Rs 80.30. UPL, GAIL, Grasim Industries, Power Grid, Maruti Suzuki, ITC, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finance were also among the gainers.

On the other hand, Indiabulls Housing Finance fell 4.85 per cent to Rs 525 after credit ratings major Moody's downgraded the mortgage lender's corporate family rating to "Ba2" from "Ba1", and changed its outlook to negative from stable.

TCS, Dr Reddy's Labs, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Hindalco, Vedanta and Indian Oil were among the laggards.