Markets off day's highs

The indices have shed some weight in the late-noon session. The European indices, including the FTSE, CAC and DAX, have slipped more than 1% in a matter of minutes. And this has had a detrimental effect on our domestic bourses. The barometer Sensex has given up nmore than 100 points from the day's highs and is now up 151 points at 17624 and the Nifty has slipped below the 5300 mark at 5281, up 35 points.

SBI has jumped 6.1% to Rs 2,234 on reports that a prominent foreign broker has raised its rating on the banking heavyweight to 'neutral' from 'sell'.

RIL has gained 3.2% to Rs 1088 as it is expected to report a good set of numbers on Friday, given the higher gas output from the Krishna-Godavari basin.

And Tata Motors has surged 4.5% to Rs 846. Jaiprakash Associates, Hindustan Unilever and HDFC are the other notable gainers.

However, Sun Pharma has weakened by 1.7% at Rs 1718, DLF has lost 1.5% at Rs 325 and ACC has shed 1.1% at Rs 920. Tata Steel has lost 0.9% at Rs 662 and ICICI Bank is off it intra-day high and is now trading flat at Rs 951.

The market breadth is overwhelmingly in favour of the bulls. Out of 2963 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1863 advancing stocks as against 1008 declines.