Mumbai, Feb 5 (IANS): A benchmark index for Indian equities markets was trading flat in early afternoon trade Tuesday as capital goods, bank and metal stocks plummeted.

The 30-scrip Sensex, which opened at 19,665.54 points, was ruling at 19,704.92 points, down 46.27 points or 0.23 percent around 11 a.m. from its previous close at 19,751.19 points.

The Sensex touched an intra-day high of 19,717.26 points and a low of 19,662.70 points. The midcap index was down 49.25 points, while the smallcap index was lower by 53.80 points.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was trading lower by 24.00 points or 0.40 percent at 5,963.25 points.

There was heavy selling pressure in capital goods, bank and metal stocks.

However, healthcare and information technology (IT) stocks rallied.

Major indices like the capital goods index was down 78.11 points followed by the bank index, which was lower by 73.47 points. Metal index was down 67.91 points.

The healthcare index was up 48.53 points. And so was the IT index, which was marginally higher by 3.40 points.

Among other Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was down 1.47 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was lower by 1.59 percent. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index was trading up by 0.18 percent.