Markets pare gains, Sensex up 50pts

The markets have pared some more gains, despite a marginal drop in July inflation numbers. The Sensex is now up 47 points at 16,887, and the Nifty is up 11 points at 5,084.
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(Updated at 1136 hrs)

The markets are trading sideways for the last two hours of trade. The Sensex after touching a high of 17,035 in opening deals pared some gains and touched a low of 16,927.

Thereafter, the markets have witnessed some stability in the absence of any major selling. The Sensex is now up 133 points at 16,972. The NSE Nifty has gained 37 points at 5,110.

The IT and the Consumer Durables indices have jumped 1% each to 5,056 and 6,449, respectively.

Among the Sensex stocks - Bharti Airtel has surged 2.5% to Rs 399. Sterlite Industries and SBI have rallied over 2% each to Rs 137 and Rs 2,239, respectively. BHEL, Coal India, TCS and Hindalco are the other major gainers.

On the other hand, DLF and Maruti have slipped over 1% each to Rs 198 and Rs 1,233, respectively.

Among the IT stocks - MphasiS has soared over 3% to Rs 413. HCL Technologies, TCS and Financial Technologies have gained over 1% each. Tech Mahindra and Patni Computers, however, have slipped 1% each.

The market breadth is positive - out of 2,480 stocks traded so far, 1,362 have advanced and 1,023 have declined on the BSE.