Markets lacklustre in noon trades

The Sensex has recovered further though it is still around 74 points away from the day's high of 17,347.

The index is now up 42 points at 17,273. The Nifty is up nine points at 5,153.
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(Updated at 1121 hrs)

Profit booking dragged the markets after a strong opening today.

The Sensex had opened with a positive gap of 34 points at 17,265. However, withing some time the index slipped into the red as investors started booking profits. The Sensex touched a low of 17,209 and is now up 39 points at 17,270.

The Nifty is up eight points at 5,153.

Tata Motors has gained 2.2% at Rs 764. Other auto stocks - Hero Honda has added 1.7% to Rs 1,733 while Mahindra & Mahindra has moved up 1% at Rs 1,053.

DLF and Reliance Infrastructure has gone up 1.5% each to Rs 373 and Rs 1,084, respectively.

ACC, ONGC and Hindalco are also among the Sensex gainers.

However, NTPC has slipped 1.7% to Rs 226. Jaiprakash Associates has dropped 1.2% to Rs 145.

Other stocks which have declined in trades today are Larsen & Toubro, ITC and Infosys.

The market breadth is positive. Out of 2,479 stocks traded, 1,500 stocks have advanced while 876 have declined.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS...

Tata Steel has topped the value chart with a aturnover of Rs 44.73 million, followed by Axis Bank (Rs 43.31 crore), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 41.06 crore) and Tata Motors (Rs 40.12 crore).

The volume chart is being led by Austral Coke with trades of over 4.9 million shares, followed by Suzlon (4.49 million), Kaashyap Technologies (3.80 million) and NHPC (3.63 million).