Markets trading in a tight range

Broader markets outperform

Markets are trading in a tight range in the late morning deals. The Sensex has thus far traded in a range of 90 points. The Sensex is up 73 points at 18,684 and the 50-share Nifty has advanced 22 points to 5,682 levels.

Meanwhile, the broader markets are outperforming the benchmark
indices. The BSE mid-cap index has advanced 0.7% or 49 points to 6,678 and the small-cap index has advanced 0.6% to 7,172

The Asian markets are trading higher as a slew of Chinese data pointed to stabilisation in the world's second largest economy, and positive US housing data helped ease worries about a sharper slowdown in global growth. The Hang Seng was up 142 points at 21,558, Nikkei advanced 165 points to 8,971 and the Shanghai Composite index was up 22 points at 2,128 levels.

Back home, Tata Power, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, Matruti Suzuki and Sterlite Industies are trading higher by 0.4-2.7% each.

On the other hand, index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and Infosys have slipped 0.5-2% each. Wipro, Jindal Steel, Sun Pharma, NTPC, ITC, BHEL, Tata Steel and HDFC are also trading on a weak note.

The BSE oil & gas index is the top sectoral loser, down 0.3% at 8,456. Teck, FMCG, IT and healthcare indices are trading lacklustre. While, realty index with gain of 1.5% is the top gainer. Power, auto, banking, PSU and capital goods stocks are also witnessing some buying interest.

Aong the individual stocks, Hathway Cable and Datacom has surged 6.3% to Rs 250 on over five-fold jump in trading volumes. A combined 1.08 million shares have already changed hands on the counter in early noon deals against an average sub 200,000 shares that were traded daily in past two weeks on the BSE and NSE.

Agro Tech Foods has rallied over 5% to Rs 436 after reporting 16% year-on-year (yoy) jump in standalone net profit at Rs 9.24 crore for the second quarter ended September 2012.

The overall breadth is positive as 1,406 stocks are advancing while 914 arer declining.