Mumbai, Aug 28 : India equity indices were trading flat following negative global cues from Asian peers.

At 9.40 a.m., Sensex was down 45 points or 0.05 per cent at 81,667 and Nifty was down 21 points or 0.10 per cent at 24,996.

The all-time high of Nifty is 25,078.

The market trend remains positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,470 shares are in the green and 620 shares in the red.

There is a buying trend in midcaps and smallcaps compared to largecaps. The Nifty Midcap 100 index is up 108 points or 0.18 per cent at 59,316 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index is up 93 points at 19,426.

Among the sectoral indices, Auto, IT, pharma, FMCG, media, energy and infra are the major gainers. Fin service, metal and private bank are the major laggards.

In the Sensex pack, M&M, Tata Motors, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, Titan, Wipro, Reliance, ITC, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, ITC and HDFC Bank are the top gainers. Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki, TCS, HCL Tech and ICICI Bank are the top losers.

Most Asian markets are trading in the red. Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul and Hong Kong are the major losers. The US market closed with marginal gains on Tuesday.

According to the market experts, "The market has entered a consolidation phase with low volatility and this trend is likely to continue in the near term. Falling bond yields in the US have restrained FII selling and even turned marginal buyers."

"Going by previous trends, DIIs are likely to sell if FIIs continue to buy. This trend will keep the market within a range with a slight upward bias. This is a desirable and healthy trend, given the elevated valuations in the market," they added.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their buying as they bought equities worth Rs 1,503.76 crore on August 27. However, domestic institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 604.08 crore on the same day.

/IANS