The markets are having a quiet time in early-noon trades. The Sensex is quoting at 18,285, higher by 19 points and the Nifty is at 5487, up 11 points. There is outperformance on the broader market front; the midcap index is at 6774, higher by 44 points and the smallcap index is at 8158, up 49 points.
The Sensex has swung in a range of nearly 200 points since morning. The benchmark indices had begun the day on a healthy note, with the BSE Sensex firming up by nearly 100 points in the early part of the session. The markets did cave into selling pressure thereafter, induced by profit-booking following the gains starting on Thursday, before retracing to the previous day's closing levels. Maybe, the opening on the European front will provide the trigger, atleast for the immediate term.
Cipla has surged by 2.9% at Rs 327 to top the gainers charts on the BSE. DLF has strengthened by 2.1% at Rs 230 and HDFC has gained 1.3% at Rs 665.
On the other hand, Reliance Infra has tumbled by 1.8% at Rs 546 to top the losers list on the BSE. ONGC has shed 1.4% at Rs 278 and Tata Motors has lost 0.9% at Rs 1078. Jindal Steel, ITC and RCom are the other significant losers on the BSE.
Among the stocks in the news, Unitech has surged 2.4% at Rs 33 despite a 19% fall in fourth quarter net profit to Rs 568 crore. On the other hand, M&M is trading flat, with a negative bias, at Rs 699 ahead of its fourth quarter results scheduled during the day.
The market breadth is strong. Out of 2607 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1518 advancing stocks as against 985 declines.
