Markets flat in afternoon deals

Auto shares continue to languish

Markets have recovered from the day's low and is trading near the dotted line at the moment. The Sensex, after touching a low of 16,118, is now trading at 16,229. Nifty is flat at 4,927.

Most of the sectoral indices were trading in the positive zone. The BSE metal index has added 1% to 10,089. Realty, bankex and power indices are up around half a per cent each.

Meanwhile, BSE consumer durables index is down 0.3%, followed by Oil & gas, auto and IT.

Maruti Suzuki has dipped 2% to 1,123 as it continues to bear the brunt of the fuel price hike. Mahindra & Mahindra has shed 1.3% to Rs 643. Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors have slipped marginally.

HDFC is down 1% at 656. Jindal Steel, Hindustan Unilever and Reliance slipped in trades as well.

Meanwhile, Tata Steel has added 2.2%, followed by Sterlite and DLF. Gail India, SBI, Hindalco and Hero MotoCorp are up over 1% each.

Bharti Airtel has advanced 0.7% at Rs 300 on adding 2.01 million mobile users in April, taking its total subscribers in the country to 183.3 million.

Jaiparakash Associates has moved higher over 3% at Rs 61.75 on reports that the company is planning an outright sale of its cement operations in Gujarat and in discussion with a global cement giant for the same.  The transaction is expected to fetch about Rs 6,000 crore.

BSE market breadth is positive. Out of 2,544 shares traded, 1,367 shares advanced while 1,060 shares declined.