Sensex pares gains; Bharti Airtel up 3%

The Indian markets have pared most of their gains and are now trading flat. The Sensex is now at 17,505, down 18 points. The NSE Nifty is at 5,228, down two points.

The BSE power and the auto stocks have added 0.5% each.

Among the Sensex-30 stocks, Bharti Airtel has advanced 3% to Rs 330. ICICI Bank, NTPC and Tata Steel have increased over 1.5% each to Rs 881, Rs 231 and Rs 646, respectively.

Jaiprakash Associates and HDFC Bank are down 2% each at Rs 156 and Rs 1,745, respectively.

Wipro, Sterlite, ONGC and Sun Pharma have declined below 1.5% each.

The market breadth is positive, out of 2,787 shares traded, 1,524 have advanced and 1,173 have advanced so far on the BSE.