Markets stuck in a narrow range

Markets are trading in a tight range with marginal losses in the noon deals. The Sensex is down 21 points at 17,580 and the Nifty is down 13 points at 5,352 levels. Earlier in the day, the Sensex touched the high of 17,687 and low of 17,509.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in the green. The Nikkei was up 40 points at 10,127, Hang Seng jumped 69 points to 20,925 and the Taiwan added 78 points to 8,059 levels. However, Shanghai was trading marginally lower at 2,374 levels.

Back home, selling pressure is visible across most of the sectors. Realty, oil & gas and metal stocks are amongst the worst hit in trades so far. The BSE Realty index is the top sectoral loser, down 1% at 1,823 levels. HDIL is the top loser from this space, down 2.4% to Rs 99. Prestige Estates, Anant Raj Industries, Oberoi Realty and Godrej Properties are also trading in the red.

Oil & Gas index has also shed nearly 1% or 62 points at 8,175 levels. Metal, Power, Bankex, Consumer Durables, Capital Goods and Healthcare indices have also shed 0.3-0.6% each. 

At the same time PSU stocks are in the limelight on hopes of disinvestment by the government in the coming months. The BSE PSU index is the top sectoral gainer, up 1% to 7,574 lebvels. FMCG and Auto indices are also trading higher with modest gains.

Among the Sensex stocks, Jindal Steel is the top loser. The stock is trading lower by 5.3% at Rs 558 on the back of huge volumes. As many as 3,45,000 shares have changed hands in the counter as against an average 1,39,000 shares that were traded daily in past two weeks on the BSE.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries has also shed nearly 2% to Rs 754. DLF, bharti Airtel, Cipla, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, BHEL and Tata Power are also trading lower.

On the other hand, Coal India, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC Bank, TCS and ITC are among the gainers.

The broader markets are also trading marginally lower. The BSE mid-cap index is down 18 points at 6,440 and the small-cap index is at 6,702, down 10 points.

The overall breadth is negative as 1,517 stocks are declining while 1,113 are advancing.