Reversing early gains, the key equity indices traded flat during the afternoon session of the trade on Friday as investors grew cautious ahead of the release of major macro-economic data.
Q2 GDP, fiscal deficit and core sector growth data will be released later in the day.
Financials, oil and gas stocks witnessed selling pressure on the BSE while telecom stocks traded flat. In contrast, IT, realty, Teck (technology, entertainment and media) stocks outperformed the benchmark index, gaining 1-2 per cent.
At 12.50 p.m, the Sensex traded 11.28 points higher at 36,181.69 from its previous close of 36,170.41. The benchmark index touched a high of 36,389.22 and a low of 36,178.76 while NSE's Nifty50 traded just 0.55 points higher at 10,859.25.
The domestic currency gained 20 paise against the US dollar, trading at Rs 69.64 from its previous close of 69.84.
On Thursday, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 823.47 crore while domestic investors also bought Rs 973.31 crore.
