Indian equity markets open on a flat note

The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), which opened above the the 9,500-mark, traded at 9,494.95 points (around 9.20 a.m.) - down 17.70 points or 0.19 per cent.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE gained by 260.48 points or 0.86 per cent, to provisionally close at 30,582.60 points - a new closing high.

Besides, during intra-day trade, the NSE Nifty scaled a new high of 9,532.60 points, and the BSE Sensex of 30,692.45 points.

"Investors are gearing up for the two-day GST council meet beginning tomorrow for getting clarity on rates. continued buying from FIIs and announcement of good quarterly results is keeping a positive vibe in the market", said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.01% lower at 30,580.89 after earlier rising as much as 0.20% to a life high of 30642.94.

Major gainers were Tata Steel 5.85 per cent, ICICI Bank 1.67 per cent, Bharti Airtel 1.24 per cent and Hero Motocorp 0.93 per cent.

Tata Steel rose 7.7 per cent on the BSE after the company's quarterly loss narrowed, while it also agreed to the main terms of a deal for a pension scheme for its British workers. On the other hand, Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas and Healthcare indices slipped 0.76 per cent, 0.37 per cent and 0.30 per cent, respectively. The BSE Mid-cap closed at 15076.97 up 0.02%, whereas BSE Small-cap Index closed at 15,680 up 0.18%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

"Power sector stocks complemented the firmness of the equity markets". The company had posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 3,041.88 crore for the year-ago quarter.