Mumbai, Jul 2 (IANS): After nearly touching nearly a month's high a day earlier, a benchmark index of Indian equities markets was trading flat at 0.22 percent or 42.74 points down during the pre-noon session Tuesday.

Some positive buying trends were observed in the consumer durables and healthcare index, while selling pressure was seen in the auto, capital goods, banking index (bankex) and public sector undertakings (PSU) sectors.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,573.93 points, was trading at 19,534.65 points in the pre-noon session, down 42.74 points or 0.22 percent from its previous day's close at 19,577.39 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 19,589.14 points and a low of 19,499.21 points in pre-noon trade.

The S&P BSE consumer durables index moved up by 86.88 points and healthcare index inched up by 61.51 points, while the auto index dipped by 80.25 points, the capital goods index slipped by 60.89 points, the bankex went down by 52.57 points and the PSU index slid by 44.52 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was trading flat at 0.24 percent or 14.15 points down at 5,884.70 points.