Metal stocks are finding good support. Information technology stocks, which opened on a fairly steady note after recent losses, have come off higher levels. FMCG, capital goods, bank, power and realty stocks are mostly trading flat amid lackluster trades.

Automobile, consumer durables and oil stocks are quite subdued. Profit taking after recent strong gains has resulted in a few pharma stocks losing notable ground today.

At 17,102.78, the Sensex is down 2.52 points from its previous close. The Nifty is down 0.95 points at 5191.90.

Bajaj Auto, which suffered a setback in the previous session and was trading lower earlier today, is up sharply in positive territory following the company's results meeting market expectations. At Rs 1494, the automobile stock is up 3.3% from its previous closing price.

Bajaj Auto has posted a net profit of Rs 718.39 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012 as compared to Rs 711.06 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2011. Total income increased from Rs 4850.38 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2011 to Rs 5047.63 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.

Tata Power has gained over 2.5%. Jindal Steel, Sterlite Industries and Coal India are up 1.4% - 1.5%. ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Wipro, HDFC, ONGC, Larsen & Toubro and Infosys are up with modest gains.

Sesa Goa, Reliance Infrastructure, Grasim Industries, ACC, Ambuja Cements, HCL Technologies, Axis Bank and SAIL are up with sharp to moderate gains.

Punjab National Bank and Tata Motors are trading lower by over 3% and Dr Reddy's Laboratories is down with a loss of 2.2%. State Bank of India, Jaiprakash Associates, NTPC, Bank of Baroda, Siemens, Power Grid Corporation and Asian Paints are also trading notably lower.

According to the data released by the government today, provisional annual inflation rate based on all-India general consumer price index for June 2012 on a point-to-point basis stood at 10.02%. The corresponding inflation rates for Rural and Urban areas are 9.74% and 10.44%, respectively for June 2012.

All-India provisional General CPI numbers of June 2012 for Rural, Urban and Combined are 120.6, 118.5 and 119.7, respectively. Inflation rates (final) for Rural, Urban and Combined for May 2012 stood at 9.57%, 11.52% and 10.36%, respectively.