Indian stock markets pared earlier gains and are currently trading flat Thursday after the winter session of Parliament started with disruptions.
The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 0.20 percent or 36.35 points to 18,502.14 and the 50 share NSE Nifty advanced 0.14 percent or 7.75 points to 5,622.55.
Markets opened on a positive note on hopes that the Indian government would pass bills to liberalize the insurance, pension and banking sectors in the winter session of parliament which began on Thursday. However, the Parliament was adjourned till afternoon over differences on FDI in retail.
"Given the current political uncertainty, it will be difficult to push the controversial Bills like foreign direct investment (FDI) in insurance and pension through, unless some kind of understanding is been reached with the opposition parties," Sujan Hajra, chief economist at Anand Rathi Securities, was quoted as saying Reuters.
Meanwhile, positive cues from Asian peers offered support. Most of the Asian stock markets surged after a private survey showed that China's manufacturing activity expanded to a 13-month high in November while Yen extended its decline against the U.S. dollar.
The HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), a measure of the nation-wide manufacturing, gained to 50.4 in November, entering an expansionary territory of above 50 for the first time in 13 months, from October's final reading of 49.5, easing worries about a sharp slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.
Among the sectoral indices, banking, technology, IT and PSU sectors gained more than 0.6 percent. Banking sector shares surged on hopes that the parliament will pass bill to liberalize the banking sector. SBI surged 2.32 percent and Axis Bank gained 2.2 percent while IDBI Bank advanced 1 percent.
The overall market breadth was positive with 1271 advanced against 1244 declines. The BSE's Midcap Index gained 0.17 percent to 6583.73 and Smallcap Index advanced 0.39 percent to 7042.69. CNX midcap Index gained 0.19 percent and CNX IT rose 0.77 percent.
