Markets run into a bumpy ride, lose early edge

Mumbai: Markets faced a roller-coaster drive after a positive start on Thursday as the Sensex and the Nifty dropped below the base line, with foreign capital rushing out.

The key indices traded flat with negative bias after losses in telecom, oil and gas, banks and financials.

Risk-taking activity was muted on sustained selling by foreign portfolio investors.

The Sensex hit 31,623.72 at 1203 hours, down 47.99 points, or 0.15 percent. The NSE Nifty ruled steady, down 19.40 points -- or 0.20 percent -- at 9,895.50.

PowerGrid lost 1.17 percent while SBI, ICICI Bank and HUL took a hit of up to 1.07 percent.

Yesterday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its policy rate unchanged -- as widely expected -- despite a growth slowdown, citing rising inflation.

Asian markets were trading with minor gains. Stock markets in Hong Kong, China, and South Korea were closed for holidays.

US stocks posted modest gains yesterday, extending their recent winning streak, which has taken the benchmarks to record levels.

Share outflow from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) continued at net worth Rs 632.14 crore yesterday, showed provisional data from exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares net Rs 584.88 crore.