Markets trade on a lacklustre note

After a quiet opening, the markets continue its lacklustre trades with the Sensex down 70 points at 18,744 and the Nifty is down 22 points at 5,527. However, in the broader markets, the smallcap index is up 0.1% and the midcap index is flat with a negative bias as compared to the BSE benchmark inde which is down 0.4%

Among the sectoral indices, after yesterday's good run, the realty index is down 1% on profit booking closely followed by Power, FMCG and Bankex indices losing between 0.5-0.9%.

The top gainers on the Sensex are Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors gaining 1% each. Maruti Suzuki and Wipro gaining 0.6% each are the other notable gainers.

Among the top losers on the Sensex are BHEL down 2% followed by Reliance Communications, DLF, Reliance Infrastructure, Bharti Airtel, Jaiprakash Associates and ITC losing 1% each.

The market breadth is positive. Of the total 2253 stocks traded on the BSE, 1118 stocks have advanced while 1055 have advanced.