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Indian shares swung between small gains and losses on Wednesday in the absence of major triggers, with liquidity drying up ahead of the year-end and weaker global cues.

The Nifty 50 index was mostly unchanged at 18,125.40, as of 11:46 a.m. IST, and the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.02% to 60,918.09. Both benchmarks had fallen over 0.3% during the session.

Average trading volume since Dec. 15 was about 200 billion, compared to 230 billion in the first half of December, according to Refinitiv data.

The impact of volatility would be felt more in the next few sessions as foreign investor activity dries up with the year coming to a close, analysts said.

Foreign institutional investors had sold net 43.2 billion rupees since Dec. 16, as per National Stock Exchange data.

Most of the major sectoral indexes reversed early losses, with auto rising 0.7%, offsetting the decline in information technology stocks, which lost over 0.5%.

The mood on the ground is positive for auto companies, while export-linked sectors like IT could be under pressure due to economic growth concerns in the United States and Europe, said Avinash Gorakshakar, head of research at Profitmart Securities.

Wall Street equities closed lower overnight after data showed that the trade deficit narrowed in November, highlighting the strength in the economy and fuelling concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue on its rate-hike path.

The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index was also flat. [MKTS/GLOB]

Adding to the worries for domestic equities were oil prices, which hovered around a three-week high on hopes of demand recovery in China. [O/R]

Higher oil prices hurt oil-importing countries like India, where crude constitutes the bulk of the country's import bill.

Twenty-six of the Nifty 50 stocks logged losses, with Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, ONGC, Infosys and Bajaj Auto losing over 0.6%.