BENGALURU: Indian shares were flat in choppy trading on Wednesday, with gains in banks offsetting losses in IT stocks.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.06% at 17,587.85, as of 0530 GMT, after having fallen as much as 0.45%. The S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.04% at 59,055.44.

IT stocks continued their downtrend, with the Nifty IT index down 0.2%.

The index has shed 3.6% in the previous two sessions.

Markets also took a cue from a weaker rest of Asia, as investors were focussed on the upcoming speech on Friday by Jerome Powell, the chair of the US Federal Reserve.

“In the immediate short term, the reaction will be based on the Fed,” said Mayuresh Joshi, head of equity research at William O’Neil.

“Volatility will persist, given the F&O expiry tomorrow,” Joshi said, adding that Indian equities have fared better than some of their global peers.

Indian shares end higher in volatile trading

India’s equity market is expected to post only minimal gains for the rest of the year amid rising volatility, according to strategists polled by Reuters, who cautioned the risks to that lacklustre outlook were skewed to the downside.

The Nifty Bank index rose 0.4% on Wednesday while the Nifty PSU Bank index was up 0.7%.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers on Nifty 50 index, up 2.4% each.

Divi’s Laboratories was the top loser, with its 1.5% fall.

Shares of NDTV Ltd rose as much as 4.99% to their highest in 14 years, a day after billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate said it seeks to control a majority stake in the television media company.