Markets recover from day's lows

The markets have finally moved into a positive range after a flat morning session. The Sensex is at 18,180, up 13 points, and the Nifty is up five points at 5,457.

The major news of the hour, the Cairn India takeover by Vedanta Resources has caused quite a ripple. The shares of Cairn India had jumped over 3.5% at Rs 368 to hit a 52-week high on the BSE prior to the deal announcement. However after the deal was announced, Cairn India shed 2.7% at Rs 345 and Sesa Goa is down 3.4% at Rs 341.

Among the BSE Sectoral Indices, Consumer Durables have pared some of their initial gains while there is not much movement in the FMCG and Realty indices. Bankex has marginally recovered to be in the green, while power has slipped into the red. The Oil & Gas index too has pared some of its initial gains.

The gainers on the Sensex are Sterlite Industries up 2.5% followed by Hindustan Unilever gaining nearly 2%, Maruti Suzuki and DLF up 1% each.

On the other hand, Cipla shedding 3.3%,Reliance Communications and Reliance Infrastructure down 2% each are the major losers.

The market breadth continues to be positive with 1716 stocks advances and 1117 declines.