Markets dip in noon trades

The Sensex is quoting at 17981, lower by 97 points and the Nifty is at 5401, down 29 points.

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(Updated at 1326pm)

Markets continue to trade in a range ahead of July expiry tomorrow. The Sensex is down 31 points at 18047 and the Nifty is down seven points at 5423.

Even strong cues from Europe have failed to free the markets from their self-imposed range. Europe is trading higher for the seventh day in a row following better-than-expected results from chipmakers. UK's FTSE is up 0.3%, Germany's DAX up 0.5% and France's CAC adds 0.7%.

RIL continues to play spoilsport. The stock is trading down 1.5% at 1038, dragging the Sensex down 56 points, after brokerages such as Edelweiss and Motilal Oswal downgraded the stock on poor gas production outlook from the KG D6 Basin.

ICICI Bank has shed 1.26% at 912, bringing the Sensex down 17 points. Jindal Steel is down 1%, HUL is down 0.8% and JP Associates is down 1%.

Rate sensitives continue to trade mixed. The auto index is up 1.4%, Bankex is flat and the Realty index is down 0.1%.

M&M continues to trade in the green after announcing the launch of low cost tractor and in anticipation of the Q1 results.

The broader markets continue to outperform the benchmark. The midcap index is up 0.43% and the smallcap index is up 0.6%.

The market breadth is positive. out of 2900 stocks traded on the BSE,there are 2900 advancing stocks as against 1420 declines.