Markets remain listless

The benchmark indices have been trading in a listless manner in the past one hour. The Sensex is at 16,399, up 43 points, and the Nifty is at 4,903, up four points. Among the sectoral indices, metal, realty and consumer durables are in the limelight, while banking and power indices are the major laggards.

The Sensex had gained nearly 160 points at opening bell, mirroring the strength globally, but succumbed to profit-booking thereafter.

Hindalco has gained 3% at Rs 153. Sterlite has advanced 2.7% to Rs 773 and DLF has added 2.1% at Rs 340. Tata Steel, Grasim and HDFC are the other notable gainers.

NTPC has declined 1.5% to Rs 208 after announcing the floor price for its follow-on public offer at Rs 201, which is a discount of around 5% to the prevailing price. HDFC Bank has lost 1.5% at Rs 1,580 and ICICI Bank has weakened by 0.9% at Rs 824.

The market breadth is positive, out of 2,564 shares traded on the BSE, there are 1,832 advancing stocks as against 663 declines.