Markets flat in noon trades

The markets have turned sideways in early noon deals after the early morning excitement. The bourses are trading flat in the noon trades after the Nifty index touched a high of 5,645 in opening trades . The BSE Sensex is at 18,670, up 16 points and the S&P Nifty is at 5,617, up four points.

The Asian markets are trading in the positive. The Shanghai Composite index is unchanged at 2,794, the Hang Seng index is marginally positive at 22,001, having gained 0.5% and the Nikkei has outperformed the rest having gained 1.2% at 10,006.

The top gainers on the Sensex are DLF, ITC, Reliance  Communications, Reliance Infrastructure and Maruti Suzuki, gaining 1-2%. Wipro is the top loser among the pack as its chief financial officer stated that the software services exporter is seeing headwinds to its profit margins in the second quarter due to wage hikes and a $150 million acquisition made in April.

Hindalco Industries, JP Associates, Hero Honda Motor and TCS are the other losers on the Sensex, having shed 1% each.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the leading construction and engineering giant, has moved higher by 1% at Rs 1,826 after bagging an electrical order in Qatar for a sub-station project worth Rs 1,210 crore.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE Power, BSE IT and BSE TECk are witnessing selling pressure as each of the sectors has shed 1%. Crompton Greaves, ABB, NTPC and Tata Power are the top losers among the BSE Power stocks. Shares of electrical appliances maker Crompton Greaves have slipped for the second consecutive day after the company reported a 58% decline in consolidated net profit for the first quarter of this fiscal.

BSE Realty and BSE FMCG sectors have gained the most, having advanced 1% each.

Among the broader markets, BSE mid-cap index remains fairly unchanged at 7,053 while the small-cap index is marginally positive at 8,507, havind gained 0.5%.

The overall market breadth is positive with 1,432 stocks advancing and 1,163 stocks declining on the BSE.