The markets are directionless in noon deals, in line with their Asian counterparts, on lingering concerns on the Italian debt front. The BSE Sensex is at 17,525, down 38 points and the Nifty is at 5,273, down 11 points. The midcap and smallcap indices are trading flat at 6300 and 6952 respectively.
The Asian shares had risen this morning, but gains were capped by concerns that surging bond yields could stifle debt-ridden Italy's fund raising ability and throw the euro zone deeper into financial turmoil. Moreover, all eyes will be on Italy on Tuesday as Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi attempts to gain the support of his party deputies in a parliamentary vote on the nation's finances. Berlusconi has come under increasing pressure to resign in recent days. All the Asian indices have edged lower by upto a percent each towards close, with the exception of Hang Seng.
Back home, DLF has dived by 2.3% at Rs 240 to top the losers list on the BSE. The pharma space is also witnessing selling pressure, with Sun Pharma weakening by 1.4% at Rs 504 and Cipla losing 1.1% at Rs 2590. There is also select weakness on the financials front, with ICICI Bank shedding 1% at Rs 876 and HDFC losing 0.38% at Rs 677.
On the other hand, BHEL has gained 0.9% at Rs 336, ONGC has added 0.8% at Rs 279 and TCS has added 0.8% at Rs 1108.
The overall market breadth is neutral as 1,221 stocks have advanced against 1,412 declining ones, on the BSE.