Indian share markets continued to trade on a flat note in the noon session. Gains are largely seen in software stocks, bank stocks and capital goods' stocks. Meanwhile, realty stocks and metal stocks are witnessing majority of the selling activity.

The BSE Sensex is trading higher by 14 points and the NSE Nifty is trading down by 11 points. Meanwhile, the BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.9% & the BSE Small Cap index is down by 1.2%. The rupee is trading at 63.41 to the US$.

2017 was a surprising year to say the least. Notebandi was supposed to be a major hurdle for Indian stocks. Realty segment was to have the biggest adverse impact post-Notebandi. While Real estate prices pan India remained stagnant, stocks were anything but.

The S&P BSE Realty Index grew by a staggering 98% in CY 2017 alone, making it one of the best performing sectors on the Index. The government's focus on affordable housing and RERA (Real Estate Regulation Act) gave investors hope of a revival in the sector.

Best & Worst Performing Sectors - S&P BSE Index

Post Notebandi came GST. This was also supposed to hamper day to day operations of companies until the whole GST process was streamlined. Consumer durable stocks remained immune to the disruption and logged in a 99% growth. A healthy monsoon also helped boost investor sentiment in consumer durable stocks.

It is also important to note that the dual effects of Notebandi and GST did show on earnings. Most of the companies reported below-par earnings in the past 2-3 quarters. The market though discounted these in expectation of a much better 2018.

In news from software sector, TCS share price surged 3.5% in the afternoon session after the company expanded its relationship with British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) to enable it become a digital-first business. As part of the deal, the company will become a principal technology partner for the retailer.

TCS will transition M&S to a new technology operating model, which embraces the agile mind-set to transform business and IT strategy, aligned with rapid technology innovation to meet fast-changing business priorities.

The announcement comes days after TCS announced a US$2 billion contract win from American insurer Transamerica to transform the latter's insurance and annuity business lines.

In another development, Tech Mahindra share price surged 3% on the reports that it has partnered with Israeli firm ContextSpace Solutions to develop the world's first global software privacy ecosystem, MyData Shield. Besides, it has also launched 'Tech Mahindra NxT' to power start-ups in Israel, under which it will engage with 20 firms.

Telecom stocks are trading on mixed note with Rcom share price and Tata Teleservices share price leading the gains.

As per an article in The Livemint, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) decision to reduce the international call termination charge from 53 paise a minute to 30 paise a minute will crimp the earnings of Bharti Airtel Ltd, Idea Cellular Ltd and Vodafone India Ltd.

The move will also impact newcomer Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, which was advocating a cut.

The latest move by the telecom regulator is expected to result in an annualized Ebitda hit of Rs 5 billion to Bharti Airtel and Rs 6.2 billion to the proposed combined entity of Idea Cellular and Vodafone India.

The cut follows a steep reduction in the domestic interconnection usage charge - paid by one operator to another for calls made to the latter's network-to 6 paise a minute from 14 paise, effective 1 October.

Meanwhile, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, India's largest packaged consumer products firm by sales, on Tuesday became the country's eighth company to cross Rs 3 trillion market capitalization after its shares surged over 70% in the last one year. The stock touched a fresh record high of Rs 1,388.45 on the BSE.

HUL share price was trading up by 1% at the time of writing.