Benchmark indices pared gains to turn flat after a strong opening on Tuesday ahead of the US Fed meet starting later in the day. Strong foreign fund inflows and expectation of the current coalition government returning to power after the general elections starting next month boosted investor confidence.

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Investors will also await the outcome of the 34th GST Council meeting to be held later today. It is expected to take up various issues including the implementation of lower GST rates for the real estate sector. In the previous meeting (February 24), the Council slashed tax rates for under-construction flats to 5 percent and affordable homes to 1 percent, effective April 1.

At 9:27 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 38,153, up 58 points, while the broader NSE Nifty50 was ruling at 11,477, up 15 points. Meanwhile, broader markets outperformed benchmark indices with Nifty MidCap and Nifty Smallcap higher by 0.4 percent.

NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were top gainers on Nifty50, while, L&T, Eicher Motors, HeroMoto Corp, Vedanta, and Bharti Infratel fell the most on the index.

Among sectors, Nifty PSU Banks rose the most, up nearly 1 percent followed by Nifty Bank, Nifty Realty, and Nifty Pharma.

Mindtree gained 0.8 percent after Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Monday signed a deal with Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) founder VG Siddhartha to buy his 20.32 percent stake in the company at Rs 980 per share for Rs 3,269 crore. L&T, on the other hand, lost over 1 percent, while Coffee Day Enterprises was trading 1.6 percent lower.

Anil Ambani led Reliance Communications (RCom) gained 10 percent after it paid Rs 458 crore to Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson as directed by the Supreme Court. RIL was trading at its record high of Rs 1,365, up 1.2 percent after Mukesh Ambani bailed Anil Ambani out of the Ericsson case.

Globally, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was virtually flat, just a hair away from the highest level since September 21. Japan’s Nikkei average dropped 0.5 percent, while Australian stocks eased 0.1 percent.