Equity indices flat on mixed global cues, Hero MotoCorp zooms

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Aug 26 : Equity benchmark indices traded at near flat levels in volatile trade during early hours on Wednesday amid mixed global cues and muted trend in Asian peers.
At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex down by 66 points or 0.17 per cent at 38,778 while the Nifty 50 gained by 3 points or 0.03 per cent at 11,476.
Except for Nifty pharma and PSU bank, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty auto gaining by 1.7 per cent and metal by 0.4 per cent.
Among stocks, Hero MotoCorp accelerated by 4.6 per cent to Rs 3,106.05 per share while Bajaj Auto advanced by 3.9 per cent, Eicher Motors by 1.8 per cent, Tata Motors by 1.7 per cent and Mahindra & Mahindra by 1.5 per cent.
Adani Ports was up by 5 per cent to Rs 363.65 per share and Bajaj Finserv ticked up by 2.2 per cent. The other major gainers were IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and Wipro.
However, index heavyweight Reliance Industries fell by 1.5 per cent to Rs 2,049.50 per unit. Bharti Airtel was down by 2.5 per cent while HDFC Life, Hindustan Lever, Nestle India and State Bank of India traded with a negative bias.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks eased from a two-year high as a mixed bag of economic data put investors on a cautious mode.
MSCI's broadest index of AsiaPacific shares outside Japan edged down by 0.1 per cent while Japan's Nikkei too was off by 0.1 per cent.
A day earlier, data showed that consumer confidence dropped to a more than six-year low in the United States, overshadowing a boom in new home sales.
US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to deliver a speech on Thursday in which he will outline the central bank's next steps.