Markets pare initial gains

The markets have pared some of its opening gains and are currently trading up 70 points at 18,764 while the Nifty moved up 19 points at 5,619. Earlier in the opening trades the Sensex had hit an intra-day high at 18,823.

The broader markets moved in line with the BSE benchmark index with the midcap index up 0.2% and the smallcap index gained 0.3% outperforming the BSE benchmark index which is up 0.2%

Among the sectoral indices, Consumer Durables had moved up sharply gaining 2% followed by FMCG and Realty index gaining 0.8% each. However, the auto index has slipped into the negative down nearly 0.2%. Capital Goods, Oil & Gas, PSU and Teck are some of the other indices which are trading flat with a negative bias.The movers in the Consumer Durables space are Titan Industries up 3.5% followed by Videocon and VIP Industries adding 2% each.

Jaiprakash Associates, Hindustan Unilever, Hero Honda and Tata Power gaining 1-2% are the top Sensex gainers in the second hour of trading. Fertiliser stocks are in the limelight ahead of government meet on DAP de-regulation. Among the individual stocks, RCF, National Fertilisers, Chambal Fertilisers, GNFC and Nagarjuna Fertiliser are trading higher by 2-5%.

On the losers’ side are Bharti Airtel down nearly 2%, ONGC losing 1%, Hindalco, BHEL and Sterlite shedding in the range of 0.3-0.5%

The market breadth continues to be strong. 1263 stocks have advanced while 835 declined.