Mumbai, May 17 (IANS): After a day of record highs, the Indian equity markets opened on a flat note during the early morning trade session on Wednesday.

The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), which opened above the the 9,500-mark, traded at 9,494.95 points (around 9.20 a.m.) -- down 17.70 points or 0.19 per cent.

The Nifty had crossed the 9,500-mark for the first time on Tuesday.

At 9.20 a.m. on Wednesday, the 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 30,616.53 points, traded at 30,543.05 points -- down 39.55 points or 0.13 per cent, from its previous close at 30,582.60 points.

The Senex has so far touched a high of 30,620.72 points and a low of 30,519.14 points.

The BSE market breadth was bearish -- with 650 declines and 624 advances.

On Tuesday, the benchmark indices touched fresh closing as well as intra-day highs as positive global cues, along with healthy macro-economic data and expectation of a normal monsoon, buoyed investors' sentiments.

The NSE Nifty closed at a new high of 9,512.25 points and an intra-day high of 9,517.20 points. The BSE Sensex closed at a fresh high of 30,582.60 points and intra-day high of 30,591.55 points.