Mumbai, July 27 (IANS): Profit booking, combined with caution ahead of derivatives expiry and a key announcement over the US interest rate, depressed the Indian equity markets on Wednesday.

During the day's volatile trade session, the key indices oscillated in a 300-point range. They had earlier receded during the mid-afternoon trade session after touching new intra-day highs for the last 11 months.

However, speculative buying in the final hour of the day's trade aided the equity markets to provisionally close on a flat-to-positive note. 

The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained just 25.15 points or 0.29 per cent to 8,615.80 points.

The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 27,976.14 points, provisionally closed at 28,024.33 points (3.30 p.m.) -- up by 47.81 points or 0.17 per cent from the previous close at 27,976.52 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 28,210.88 points and a low of 27,899.93 points during the intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was slightly tilted in favour of the bears -- with 1,341 declines and 1,317 advances.

Both indices had ended deep in the red during the previous trade session on Tuesday due to profit booking, along with caution ahead of key global and domestic events.