Markets continue to remain lacklustre in late morning trades, amid weak Asian cues, as gains in FMCG major ITC help offset losses in index heavyweights Infosys and Reliance.
At 11:36AM the 30-share Sensex was up 9 points at 18,764 and the 50-share Nifty was up 3 points at 5,701.
Asian shares were trading lower tracking after US markets ended an unusual storm-shortened
trading week with a selloff on Friday, as major indexes erased early gains sparked by a stronger-than-expected payrolls report. The Nikkei, Shanghai COmposite, Hang Seng and Straits Times were down 0.4-0.5% each.
Among the sectoral indices on the BSE, Healthcare and Consumer Durables indices were up over 1% each followed by FMCG and Capital Goods indices.
ITC was among the top Sensex gainers up 1.2% at Rs 287 on buying at lower levels after the stock had witnessed profit taking in the previous few sessions.
Cipla was up 2% at Rs 385 ahead of its second quarter earnings to be announced later today.
In the capital goods segment L&T and BHEL were up 0.5-1.0% each after both stocks recently corrected after the central bank continued to keep key policy rates unchanged.
Other Sensex gainers include, Dr Reddy's Labs, Tata Motors and TCS.
Among the Sensex losers, index heavyweights Infosys and Reliance Industries were down 0.5-0.6% each.
Among other shares, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) is trading lower by 5% at Rs 687, fallen by over 10% from intra-day high after reporting a lower than expected 25% year-on-year (yoy) jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 159 crore for the quarter ended September 2012.
The broader markets were marginally up. The BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 0.2-0.3% each.
Market breadth was strong with 1,286 gainers and 1,089 losers on the BSE.
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