Benchmarks began the day steady, but brokers said the market would struggle to sustain at these levels in the absence of follow-up buying. The Nifty and Sensex had rallied around 4 percent last week, riding the bullish wave in global markets.

The Nifty was at 5944, up 2 points over its previous close. The Sensex was up 26 points at 19673. According to UR Bhat of Dalton Capital, foreign fund flows could moderate further as most global money managers were no longer underweight on India. Bhat says the kind of fund flows witnessed last year was unlikely. Also, central banks across the globe were likely to start tightening again, and this could have implications for worldwide liquidity.

Berger Paints share markets were up a little over 2 percent to Rs 211 after the company on Monday said that its wholly-owned subsidy Brushworks Paints Ltd has acquired the architectural paints business of Sherwin Williams Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed amount.

Other gainers at this hour included Opto Circuits, Mahindra & Mahindra Finance, Coromandel International and United Breweries, up between 2-4 percent. Overall, there was good interest in mid and small cap shares.

GLOBAL MARKETS ROUNDUP   

Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange gained 0.3 percent. The MSCI-Asia Pacific index, excluding Japan  was up 0.1 percent.

Wall Street’s record close overnight bolstered most Asian shares on Tuesday as growing confidence in the U.S. economy underpinned investor risk appetite, while the yen slipped to fresh lows on speculation over imminent monetary easing.

Wall Street rose modestly on Monday, lifting the Dow  to another record and giving the S&P 500 its seventh straight advance as early weakness enticed buyers.