Markets trade firm, Sensex up 132 pts

After the upmove witnessed in the Sensex in the initial hours of trading, the Sensex is moving sideways. Currently, the BSE benchmark index is up 132 points at 18,373, down 59 points from the day's high thus far and the Nifty gained 46 points at 5,518.However, in the broader markets, the smallcap and the midcap indices advanced 0.7% each in line with the Sensex.

Oil & Gas index continues to lead the gains among the sectoral indices but pared some of its initial gains. Auto, PSU and Metal continues to remain stable with a 1% gain each. After flip flopping between the red and the green, the FMCG index has moved into the negative territory, down 0.3%.

ONGC continues to lead the Sensex gainers list followed by Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and HDFC gaining 2-3%.

Among the losers are ITC and Hero Honda down 0.7% each, Reliance Infrastructure, Hindustan Unilever and Wipro losing 0.5% each.

The market breadth continues to remain positive. Of the total 2572 stocks traded on the BSE, 1512 stocks have advanced while 934 declined.