BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares were little changed on Thursday, ahead of the expiry of December derivative contracts and in the absence of new catalysts to propel large-cap stocks which have pushed markets up 12% in 2019.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.01% at 12,213.20 by 0425 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex was flat at 41,461.25.

Indian markets have moved little during a truncated trading week due to the Christmas holiday, with the sharpest move coming on Tuesday – when markets fell about 0.4% – spurred by profit-booking.

“If you look at the top 7-8 stocks … the news flow isn’t that great to stimulate prices further higher,” said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president at SMC Global Securities Ltd in New Delhi. “Some consolidation or correction is inevitable.”

Among global equities, European stocks on Tuesday saw fresh record gains as did the Nasdaq on Wall Street in a year-end rally spurred by hopes of a U.S.-Sino Phase 1 trade deal.

Meanwhile, India’s government is unlikely to complete the privatization of carrier Air India Ltd, refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Container Corp of India Ltd by end-March, leaving an up to $7 billion hole in its budget, the Mint newspaper reported on Thursday.

Shares in BPCL were up nearly 1%, while those in Container Corp were down 0.4%.

Among other individual stocks, Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd was up 3% after a media report that KKR and Apax Partners were in the lead to buy a significant stake in the coffee chain owner.

Having fallen roughly 40% over the past week, shares in Dishman Carbogen Amcis Ltd climbed 10%.

The pharmaceutical services firm, whose offices and manufacturing plants were searched by income tax officials, said the search had concluded on Wednesday.