Breaking a range bound movement, the markets slipped to touch a day's low of 18,176, almost near the previous day's closing. The Sensex is currently at 18225, higher by 44 points and the Nifty is at 5476, up 14 points.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, FMCG up 0.7% leads the charts followed by Bankex which pared its gains and is at 0.5%. Health Care, Metal, IT,Teck, Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas and Realty are the indices that slipped into the red.
DLF which gained 1.5% is the top gainer on the Sensex.SBI and HDFC adding 1% each, ITC, ONGC,NTPC, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Jindal Steel up nearly 1% are the other significant gainers.
Reliance Communications, Sterlite,RIL and Hindustan Unilever down 1% each are the major losers on the Sensex.
Market breadth is negative. 1669 stocks have declined while 1259 have advanced.