From correspondents in Maharashtra, India, 12:00 PM IST

Indian equities markets opened strong Wednesday but within 30 minutes into trading slid into negative territory on massive profit booking.

An hour into trading the 30-share benchmark sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was at 10,432.06, down 199.06 points or 1.87 percent from its close Tuesday at 10,631.12 points.

The broader-based 50 share S and amp;P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also opened strong but soon began to slide and an hour into trading was at 3,103.70 points, down 38.4 points or 1.22 percent.

The BSE midcap index, however, was in positive territory and was ruling at 3,460.80, up 14.58 points or 0.42 percent from its previous close at 3,446.22 points.

The BSE smallcap index too was in the green and was at 4,066.83, up 31.72 points or 0.79 percent from its previous close at 4,035.11 points.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)