Markets in consolidation mode; Nifty hovers at 8,600

The benchmark indices have pared their early-morning gains and are trading in a sideways manner as they seek to consolidate the gains garnered in the recent past, and especially in the previous session.

At 11:30 AM, the Sensex was at 28,461, higher by 15 points and the Nifty was virtually unchanged at 8,609, up 2 points.

The broader markets are trading in tandem with their larger peers, with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining 0.1% and 0.5% each at 11,214 and 11,733 respectively.

The market breadth is positive. Out of 2,350 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1,225 advancing stocks as against 1,016 declines.

SECTORS & STOCKS

Sectorally, Metal and pharma stocks are leading the gains on the BSE, while banking stocks are trading subdued.

In the metal space, Hindalco, Vedanta and Tata Steel are seeing value buying after touching 52-week lows in the recent past. In related news, Tata Steel's European unit, Tata Steel Europe announced post market hours on Thursday that it plans to refocus its speciality and bar business on high-value markets such as aerospace in the next stage.

The pharma pack is seeing the likes of Cipla, Lupin and Sun Pharma gaining around 1% each.

Tata Motors announced that its wholesale sales globally remained flat in June 2015 year-on-year. This also includes its sales from JLR. The stock is down by 0.5%.

Index heavy weights Reliance Industries and ITC have gained around 0.5% each on the Sensex.

On the other hand, index heavyweights such as Coal Indian and Hindustan Unilever have shed around 1% each. Banking stocks are also seeing some profit-booking after rallying in the previous session. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank have shed 0.5%-1% each.

Tata Motors has declined 0.4% as the company's global wholesales, including Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), remained flat on year-on-year basis at 76,602 units in June 2015.

ACC is trading weaker by nearly 1% at Rs 1484 ahead of its Q2 nos (The company follows January-December as its financial year). Crisil has also edged lower by 0.4% at Rs 1985 ahead of its Q1 numbers to be unveiled later in the day.