Sensex flat, Nifty hovers around 9,800 in noon deals; ONGC, HUL top gainers

STOCK MARKET NEWS - Benchmark indices pared some morning gains to trade flat in the noon deals with Nifty trading hovering around 9,800 ahead of June CPI data, to be announce later in the day. Investors expected the inflation to be at record low, which will put pressure on RBI to cut rates in the coming monetary policy review meet.

Asian Markets were also trading mixed amind political controvery surrounding Donald Trump after  emails disclosed by President Donald Trump's eldest son cited Russian support for his father's 2016 election campaign. Street also watched out for US Fed Chair Janet Yellen's testimoney to get clues on timeline of further rate hikes by Fed.

At 11:40 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 31,768, up 21 points while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,800 up 14 points

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and S&P BSE Smallcap index rose 0.4% each.

"The overall trend is still positive in the short term wherein 9,900 levels is an immediate target in the short term whereas above 10,000 levels in the medium term. On the lower side, 9,740 is an immediate support and below that 9,710. The momentum indicator MACD is well in the buy mode on the daily charts which is very supportive and bullish in the short term," said Anand Rathi Technicals in a note.

ONGC, HUL, Tata Motors and RIL contributed the most to BSE Sensex while TCS, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank and HeroMoto Corp shed the most on the index.

Religare Enterprises extended yesterday's losses, down over 5% after ending in the 20% lower circuit on Tuesday amid speculation that lenders had sold some shares, pledged by the company’s promoters, in the open market.