The markets continued to trade sideways, albiet a positive bias on the back of fresh buying in select realty, pharma and IT stocks. The Sensex touched a high of 18,499, and is now up 69 points at 18,489.
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(Updated at 1243 hrs)
The markets have nudged higher in early-noon trades on the back of strength in select index heavyweights. The Sensex is at 18476, higher by 56 points and the Nifty is at 5548, up 16 points.
The markets had opened virtually unchanged on the back of unenthusing cues from the Asian market front. While the Asian markets are trading mixed towards close, the bourses back home have clawed higher at the onset of the noon session.
On the stock-specific front, Cipla has raced ahead by 1.8% at Rs 337 to emerge as the top gainer on the Sensex. M&M has strengthened by 1.3% at Rs 665 and Reliance Infra has gained 1.2% at Rs 557. And index heavyweight RIL has added 1.1% at Rs 949.
On the other hand, Bajaj Auto has weakened by 0.9% at Rs 1347, L&T has shed 0.7% at Rs 1712 and Hero Honda has lost 0.6% at Rs 1846.
The market breadth is strong. Out of 2596 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1358 advancing stocks as against 1107 declines.
