Markets have a quiet morning

After opening on a positive note, the market quickly lost its steam to slip into the red. The Sensex touched a low of 18,371, but quicky pared some of their initial losses. The Sensex is at 18, 422 up 20 poiints and the Nifty is up three points at 5,534.

The smallcap (up 0.8%)and the midcap index (up 0.4%) continue to outperform the benchmark index (up 0.09%). Of  the total 534 scrips in the smallcap index, 391 scrips have advanced while 114 have declined. The movers in the space are Ceat, Jindal Poly Films and Lloyds Steel, up 7.5% each. In the midcap space, 176 scrips advanced compared to 91 declines. Radico Khaitan adding 8% is the top gainer in this space, followed by State Bank of Mysore and Torrent Pharma gaining 4.5% each.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, Consumer Durables up 1% leads the charts followed by Auto(up 0.8%)and Teck (up 0.5%).Gitanjali Gems up nearly 4%, Titan Industries adding 3% are the movers in the Consumer Durables space.Mahindra & Mahindra adding 2.5% followed by Amtek Auto and Apollo Tyres gaining 2% each are the movers in the Auto space. Bankex has pared some of its initial gains to slip into the red while Oil & Gas and FMCG continue to remain in the red.

Mahindra & Mahindra up 2.5% at Rs 633 is the top giner on the Sensex.Jindal Steel, Bharti Airtel,Tata Power and Cipla gaining 1.2% each are the other significant gainers.

On the losers side are Jaiprakash Associates down nearly 2% at Rs 121 followed by Hindalco and ITC shedding 1% each are the other prominent losers.

Market breadth remains positive. 1740  stocks have advanced while 795 have declined.