Markets languish in noon trades

Power, healthcare, auto stocks gain

Markets continued to trade in a lacklustre note in afternoon trades with selling pressure in realty and IT stocks. The Sensex, after touching a high of 16,944, was trading at 16,894 - up 34 points. Nifty is up 17 points at 5,120.

Asian markets are trading in the green with the Nikkei gaining 1% at 8,752. Hang Seng was up 0.7% but Shanghai Composite slipped into red and was down 0.3% at 2,293.

BSE capital goods index gained 1% to9,586. Power, healthcare and auto shares were also in green. Meanwhile, BSE realty index declined 0.3% to 1,576. IT index was down 0.2%.

Coal India has slumped 1.8% to Rs 338. The government has allocated 116 mines to CIL for expansion to help it boost production capacity.

Maruti Suzuki has slipped 1%, along with Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank. The key draggers in the Sensex at the moment are Tata Motors and ICICI Bank.

Meanwhile, ONGC has gained 1.6% to Rs 272 on reports that its overseas arm, ONGC Videsh, is planning to sell 50% stake in its Cuban offshore blocks.

Dr Reddy's has added 3% to Rs 1,592. Tata Motors, Jindal Steel, BHEL and Hero MotoCorp have also advanced in trades.

The BSE market breadth is positive. Out of 2,564 stocks traded, 1,469 shares have advanced while 937 shares have declined.