Indian benchmarks continued to trade volatile with negative bias during the noon trading session.

Meanwhile, Indian rupee is trading flat at 71.71 per dollar on December 2 versus Friday's close 71.74.

Further India's manufacturing sector activity inched up in November, but the upturn remained subdued as growth rates for new orders as well as production were modest, a monthly survey said on Monday.

The IHS Markit India Manufacturing PMI rose to 51.2 in November from 50.6 in October, when it had fallen to a two-year low, indicating only a slight improvement in the health of the sector.

Although business conditions in the Indian manufacturing sector improved in November, the rise, however, remained subdued compared to earlier this year and the survey history, the study said.

At 12:40, the 30-share benchmark index was trading at 40791.63 down by -2.18 points or by -0.01 % and then NSE Nifty was at 12046 down by -10.05 points or by -0.08 %.

Sensex touched intraday high of 41093.99 and intraday low of 40744.13 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 12137.15 and intraday low of 12031.45.

The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Rs. 463.35,+4.76%), Reliance Industries Ltd. (Rs. 1584.75,+2.18%), Asian Paints Ltd. (Rs. 1725.50,+1.26%), Vedanta Ltd. (Rs. 145.90,+1.00%), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Rs. 535.30,+0.99%), among others.

The top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Rs. 736.70,-3.26%), YES Bank Ltd. (Rs. 66.30,-2.93%), Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (Rs. 128.45,-2.50%), Bajaj Finance Ltd. (Rs. 3972.55,-2.47%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Rs. 440.20,-2.13%), among others.

Among the sectors, Metal index was at 9812.31 up by 33.34 points or by 0.34%. NMDC Ltd. (Rs. 106.00,+3.41%), JSW Steel Ltd. (Rs. 267.20,+2.28%), Vedanta Ltd. (Rs. 145.90,+1.00%), Hindustan Zinc Ltd. (Rs. 216.10,+0.37%), Steel Authority of India (SAIL) Ltd. (Rs. 39.40,+0.13%),.

On the flip side, PSU index was at 7012.75 down by -59.95 points or by -0.85%. Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd. (Rs. 48.00,-3.71%), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (Rs. 51.60,-3.19%), Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd. (Rs. 33.00,-2.94%), NBCC (India) Ltd. (Rs. 37.75,-2.58%), Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (Rs. 128.45,-2.50%),.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 2578 , shares advanced were 1008 while 1382 shares declined and 188 were unchanged.