Markets down in noon trades

HDFC, ICICI Bank, ITC, L&T weighs

Markets continue to trade in the red in the noon deals as  heavyweights like HDFC, ICICI Bank, ITC, L&T and TCS continue to remain under pressure. At 12:45pm, the Sensex was down 26points at 19,418 and the Nifty lost nine points at 5,899.

Meanwhile, the broader markets remained resilient with the midcap index up 0.2% and teh smallcap index advanced 0.4%, both outperforming the Sensex which was down 0.1%.

Among the sectoral indices, Realty, Metal, Consumer Durables and Auto indices were the top gainers up 0.4-1%.On the other hand the draggers were FMCG, IT, Capital Goods and Health Care down 0.1-0.3%.

Most markets in Asia remained closed on account of year end holidays. However, concerns over the US 'fiscal cliff' continued to weigh on market sentiment. The Shanghai Composite was up 1.3% and KLSE Composite was down 0.3%.

The movers among the Sensex pack were Wipro, Jindal Steel and Hindalco up 1% each. Tata Motors, BHEL, Hindustan Unilever, ONGC, SBI, Tata Steel and Coal India which gained between 0.3-0.8% were the other notable gainers.

Among the draggers were ITC, TCS, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, Cipla, L&T, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank and Infosys slipping 0.3-0.7%.

Owing to the strength in the broader markets, the markets breadth remained positive on the BSE. 1419 stocks advanced while 1160 stocks declined.

Meanwhile, painting to better picture for 2013, Morgan Stanley analysts expect Sensex companies to grow 10.8% on a year on year basis in FY2013 as against the consensus estimates of 8.3%. It also expects Sensex companies to grow 14.2% in FY2014 as against the consensus estimates of 13.9%.