Mumbai, Oct 22 - Indian equities markets were in the negative shortly after noon Thursday with investors continuing to book profits, pushing a key index 0.45 percent below its previous close.

At 12.21 p. m., the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened higher at 17,031.54 points, was ruling below the 17,000-mark at 16,932.98 points -- 76.19 points or 0.45 percent down from Tuesday's close at 17,009.17 points.

Around the same time, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), too, was trading in the red at 5,038.05 points, down 0.5 percent.

Broader market indices were mixed with mid-sized capitalised company scrips coming under selling pressure, while smaller company stocks saw some buying interest.

The market breadth was positive, with 1,350 stocks advancing, 1,101 declining and 66 remaining unchanged.

Among the gainers around this time on the Sensex were Infosys, up 2.44 percent at Rs. 2,218.30; Bharti Airtel, up 1.74 percent at Rs. 338.40; ITC, up 1.68 percent at Rs. 247.80 and Sterlite, up 1.65 percent at Rs. 836.50.

Among the losers were Jaiprakash Associates, down 4.58 percent at Rs. 244; Tata Motors, down 2.35 percent at Rs. 549; L&T, down 2.29 percent at Rs. 1,634.70 and DLF, down 2.01 percent at Rs. 462.50.

Profit-taking hit other Asian markets as well.

The Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed 66.22 points or 0.64 percent lower at 10,267.17 points.

The primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hang Seng, was ruling 201.1 points or 0.9 percent lower at 22,117.01 points.

At the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the composite index was ruling 0.66 percent down at 3,050.41 points.

The Kospi, benchmark index of the Korean Stock Exchange, was also in the red at 1,630.33 points, down 23.53 points or 1.42 percent.