MUMBAI - Indian equities markets continued to trade below their last closing figure, with a key index ruling about 0.39 percent below it previous close, a little before noon Wednesday.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex), which opened at 9,745.77 points, stood at 9,670.39 points, 0.39 percent or 38.11 points below its previous close at 9,708.5 points Tuesday.

The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was at 2,994.2 points, 0.89 percent down than its last close of 3,020.95.

However, BSE midcap and smallcap companies were outperforming the rest of the market, with the BSE midcap index ruling 1.43 percent higher than its previous close, while the BSE smallcap index was up 1.84 percent.

Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, those for FMCG and healthcare stocks were in the negative terrain, while realty stocks saw some buying owing to low valuations.

Among gainers on the 30-composite Sensex around this time were Ranbaxy, up 6.31 percent at Rs.176.05; HDFC, up 4.66 percent at Rs.1,477; DLF, up 3.68 percent at Rs.173.35, and Tata Power, up 3.46 percent at Rs.791.75.

There were four losers in the Sensex at this time: Sun Pharma, down 4.17 percent at Rs.1,066; Hindustan Unilever, down 4.07 percent at Rs.228.50; Bharti Airtel, down 3.32 percent at Rs.605, and ITC, down 2.38 percent at Rs.180.40.

In other Asian markets, Tokyo stocks ended in the green with Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average closing at 8,351.91 points, 242.38 points higher than its previous close.

The Hang Seng, a key index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, was however down 1.03 percent at 13,436.57 points.

Major US stock indices posted strong gains Tuesday following Europe’s lead.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 86.9 points, or 1.16 percent, to 7,608.92 points.

The broader Standard and Poor’s 500 Index rose 10.34 points, or 1.31 percent, to 797.87,while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was up 26.79 points, or 1.78 percent, to 1,528.59.