Mumbai, Jul 20 (IANS): Despite positive global cues, the Indian equity markets erased their morning gains to trade in the red during the mid-afternoon session on Thursday, as heavy selling pressure was witnessed in metal, auto and IT stocks.

At 12.50 p.m., the wider Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded at 9,874.05 points -- down 25.55 points, or 0.26 per cent -- from its previous session's close.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 32,033.82 points, traded at 31,895.33 points -- down 60.02 points, or 0.19 per cent, from the previous close at 31,955.35 points.

The Sensex has so far touched a high of 32,057.12 points and a low of 31,878.30 points during intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,337 declines and 1,180 advances.

"Equity benchmarks erased early gains in the morning trade. Ahead of June quarter earnings, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries and Wipro gained up to 1.7 per cent while Bajaj Auto fell 0.4 per cent," said Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls.

"Reliance Industries is slated to announce its earnings for the April-June quarter (Q1) on Thursday and hold its AGM (annual general meeting) the day after. Analysts expect the focus, both in terms of the June quarter numbers and the AGM, would be on the company's telecom business."

On Wednesday, the Indian equity markets were lifted by positive global cues and inflows of foreign funds.

The Nifty closed at 9,899.60 points, while the Sensex closed at 31,955.35 points -- up 244.36 points, or 0.77 per cent.