Markets consolidate gains

The markets are consolidating gains, with the Sensex now up 100 points at 18,629, and the Nifty up 26 points at 5,577.
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(Updated at 1238 hrs)

The markets continued to pare gains in the noon session; the Sensex, after touching an intra-day high of 18,689 close to 1030 hrs, was quoting at 18,618 up 89 points, while the Nifty, at 5,573, was up 21 points.

Hindustan Unilever strengthened its position as the top gainer on the Sensex at Rs 297 up more than 4%, followed by Sterlite Industries at Rs 174 up almost 3% and Relaince COmmunications at Rs 91 up 2%. NTPC, TCS and ONGC added about 2% each.

HDFC Bank a Rs 2,254 shed 1%, while Hero Honda at Rs 1,726 and ICICI Bank at Rs 1,077 also let off 1% each. Tata Power and HDFC slipped 0.5% each.

The broader markets were trading flat, albeit with a positive bias, with the Mid-cap index at 6,891 and the Small-cap index at 8,382.

On the sectoral front, the FMCG index cimbed nearly 2% at 3,746, followed by the Realty index at 2,108 and IT counter at 6,094 both up 1% each.

The COnsumer DUrables index slipped further, and was off 1% at 6,146. Rate-sensitive sector banking was under pressure due to the recent rate hikes announced by the Reserve Bank of India; the Bankex slipped 0.5% at 12,567.

Out of 2,607 shares traed on the BSE so far, 1,378 advanced, while 1,084 declined, making the market breadth positive.