Markets stuck in a narrow range

Markets are trading in a narrow range in the noon deals. The Sensex is down 67 points at 16,099 and the Nifty is down 16 points at 4,835.

Earlier in the day, the Sensex had opened in the red and touched a low of 15,995. The Sensex has thus far traded in the range of 215 points.

According to Ranak Merchant, technical analyst with Sushil Financial Services, "The pull back rally is likely to find its first target near 4,935."

Bharti Airtel is the top loser among the Sensex stocks, down 2.5% at Rs 378. Reliance Industries is also trading lower by 1.6% at Rs 770 after the company sent an arbitration notice to the ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoPNG) over its move to disallow some of the expenditure incurred in the KG-D6 gas field in view of falling gas production. Infosys, Hindalco, Tata Power, DLF, NTPC, Tata Motors, HDFC, Jindal Steel and Sun Pharma are also trading lower by 0.4-1.5% each.

On the other hand, Tata Steel is the top gainer, up 2.3% to Rs 396. J P Associates, Mahindra & Mahindra, HUL, BHEL, Cipla, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC Bank and Bajaj Auto are also trading higher 0.8-1.6% each.

Among individual stocks, GTL and GTL Infrastructure have jumped around 14% each to Rs 44 and Rs 10 respectively on the back of news reports that the company's corporate debt restructuring (CDR) cell will meet today to contemplate the debt-to-equity conversion proposal.

Indowind Energy has gained by 4% to Rs 8.04 after reaching an understanding with ICICI Bank Ltd to settle all outstanding disputes pending in various legal forums.

Suzlon Energy has gained nearly 3% on the back of reports that the wind energy equipment maker is set to acquire around 50,000 acres of land across eight states, to build a pipeline for future orders.

Oil & gas stocks are amongst the the worst hit in trades thus far. The BSE Oil & Gas index is the top sectoral loser, down 83 points at 8,089 levels. IT index has also shed 0.6% to 5,470. Realty and PSU indices are also trading marginally in the red.

At the same time, BSE Healthcare index is the top gainer, up 0.8% at 6,070. Auto, FMCG, Capital Goods, Power, Metal and Bankex indices are also trading marginally higher.

From the oil & gas space, PCL is the top loser, down 3.3% at Rs 279. Essar Oil, BPCL, Indian Oil, Oil India, Cairn India and ONGC are also trading in the red.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices have added around 0.2% each at 5,708 and 6,169 levels.

The overall breadth is marginally positive as 1,264 stocks are advancing while 1,155 are advancing.