Markets remain lacklustre, IT stocks gain

Markets traded on a lacklustre note in the mid-mornng deals on back of selling visible in auto, metal, healthcare and FMCG stocks. The Sensex was at 18,561, lower by 56 points and the Nifty was at 5,579, lower by 21 points.

Sterlite Industries was the top loser among the Sensex stocks. It was trading lower by 1.8% at Rs 163. Tata Motors was also trading lower by 1.6% at Rs 1,046. Hero Honda, Cipla, Tata Power, Bajaj Auto, ONGC and HDFC were also among the prominent losers. On the other hand TCS was the top gainer. The stock gained 2.5% to Rs 1,154 on back of better than expected Q1 results posted after the market hours yesterday.  NTPC, SBI, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Hindalco and Reliance Industries were also among the notable gainers on the benchmark index.

On the sectoral front, Auto stocks witnessed selling pressure. The BSE Auto index was down 0.7% or 65 points at 8,928. Metal stocks also reeled under the selling pressure. The BSE Metal index declined 0.65% or 95 points at 14,640. Helathcare, FMCG, Capital Goods, Oil & Gas, PSU and Bankex indices were also trading in the negative territory.

Meanwhile, Technology stocks witnessed some fresh buying. The BSE IT index was the top sectoral gainer up 29 points at 5,864. realty and power stocks also witnessed some buying in today's trades so far.

Tata Motors, Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Bharat Forge, Apollo Tyres and Amtek Auto were the losers among the auto stocks.
TCS was the top gainer among the IT stocks. Patni Computers, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Core Projects, Mphasis, Financial Technologies and Tech Mahindra also advanced 0.2-0.6% each.

The broader markets were trading on a flat note. The BSE mid-cap index advanced 3 points at 7,017 and the small-cap index added 21 points to 8,377.

The overall breadth was marginally positive as 1,283 stocks were advancing while 1,124 stocks were declining.