Markets rangebound

The markets are moving in an extremely narrow range ahead of the derviatives April series expiry today. The Sensex has moved in a near 100-point band so far, and is now up 74 points at 17,454.

The NSE Nifty has added 24 points to 5,240.

The market breadth remains fairly positive, thanks to smart gains in th BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indexes. Out of 2,726 stocks traded so far, 1,922 have advanced and 728 have declined on the BSE.

The BSE Mid-cap index has advanced over 1% to 7,112, and the Small-cap index has moved up 1.5% to 9,189.

Realty and metal stocks continue to lead the sectoral gains. While the former index has rallied 2.3%, the latter is up 1.4% so far.

Sterlite and Tata Steel are the top gainers in the Sensex 30, up 2.3% at Rs 832 and up 1.8% at Rs 636, respectively.

Tata Motors, DLF and ICICI Bank have moved up 1.7% each.

Maruti, Jaiprakash Associates, Bharti Airtel, Tata Power, SBI and Reliance are the other major gainers.

Hindustan Unilever has shed 2.4% at RS 237, and Sun Pharma has slipped 1.6% to Rs 1,595.

TCS and ITC have also declined over 1% each.