Mumbai, May 23 (IANS): Indian equity indices were trading in the green on Thursday after a flat start. At 9:40 a.m., Sensex was up 251 points or 0.34 per cent, at 74,472 points and Nifty was up 76 points or 0.34 per cent, at 22,674 points.

Midcap and smallcap stocks are also trading with gains. The Nifty midcap 100 index is up 254 points or 0.49 per cent, at 52,402 points and the Nifty smallcap 100 index is up 82 points or 0.49 per cent, at 16,966 points.

The Indian Volatility Index (India VIX) was trading flat at 21.29 points.

Among the sector indices, IT, PSU Bank, Fin service, Realty and Pvt Bank are major gainers. Pharma, Metal, Media, Energy and Commodities are major losers.

In the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, and Wipro are major gainers, and Power Grid, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, and Nestle are major losers.

According to market experts, "There are positives and negatives for the market today. The biggest positive is the record Rs 2.11 lakh crore dividend from the RBI to the government, which will give an additional 0.3 per cent of GDP fiscal room for the government. This means the government can reduce its fiscal deficit and step up infrastructure spending."