Markets have a quiet time

The Sensex is now quoting at 17403, lower by 47 points and the Nifty is at 5210, down 14 points.

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(Updated at 1127am)

The markets have not done anything significant in the past one hour. The Sensex has been moving in a narrow band of around 80 points and is now quoting at 17408, lower by 42 points and the Nifty is at 5211, down 12 points. The mid-cap and small-cap indices are trading flat at 6710 and 8462 respectively.

Auto major Tata Motors has followed up on its previous day's weakness by shedding another 2.6% at Rs 719. The stock has lost nearly 6% in the past two trading sessions in the wake of its early bond conversion offer. ACC has lost 1.9% at Rs 938 and HDFC is down 1.6% at Rs 2577.

And index heavyweight Reliance Industries is trading flat, with a negative bias, at Rs 1086.

On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever has continued its good recent showing to emerge as the leading gainer on the BSE. The FMCG bellweather has added 1.8% at Rs 231. Telecom major Bharti Airtel has strengthened by 1.3% at Rs 310 on the back of the Zain deal, while Reliance Infra has appreciated by 0.8% at Rs 1032.

The market breadth has turned neutral. Out of 2621 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1304 advancing stocks as against 1231 declines.