Mumbai, Jan 9 (IANS): A day after it broke a three-session losing streak, a benchmark index of Indian equities markets traded flat Friday afternoon.

The barometer index of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), was up 37.68 points or 0.14 percent (around 1.00 p.m.). The markets had surged to a high of 195.28 points in the intra-day.

Healthy buying was observed in information technology (IT), healthcare and consumer durables stocks, while selling pressure was sustained in banking, capital goods and metal scrips.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P BSE, which opened at 27,404.19 points, was trading at 27,312.39 points (at 1.00 p.m.), up 37.68 points or 0.14 percent from the previous day's close at 27,274.71 points.

The Sensex had touched a high of 27,507.67 points and a low of 27,119.63 points in the trade so far.

The S&P IT index surged by 229.62 points, healthcare index moved up by 185.69 points and consumer durables index increased by 49.54 points.

However, S&P BSE banking index was down 92.07 points, followed by capital goods index which was lower by 53.29 points and metal index which fell 29.06 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was also trading flat. It was 26.25 points or 0.32 percent up at 8,260.85 points.