Markets remain range bound

Markets are witnessing a lacklustre trend with the Sensex and the Nifty hovering in a narrow range around 17,450 and 5,275 levels, respectively. Indian markets have rallied in the last three sessions with the Sensex surging over 300 points.

By 11:30 hrs, the Sensex was down 17 points at 15,416 and the 50-share Nifty slipped 3 points at 5,267.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading on a mixed note as investors digested a raft of earnings reports and remained cautious ahead of the key US jobs report due out later in the global day.

Back to Indian markets, sectors like Realty, Healthcare, Power, Consumer Durable and FMCG have gained by nearly 1% each. However, BSE Metal index has declined by almost 1%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries has fallen by over 1% on profit taking after recent strong gains. The company proposes to buy-back up to a maximum of 12 cr shares and a minimum of 3 cr shares. The buyback programme started on 1 February 2012 and will end on 19 January 2013.

Metal stocks like Sterlite Industries, Hindalco Industries, Hindustan Zinc, Tata Steel and Jindal Steel have fallen between 2-2.5% as LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange declined 1.56% yesterday.

Bharti Airtel maintains the firm movement, up 2% on expectation that the telecom major could emerge as one of the major beneficiaries following today’s Supreme Court verdict.    

IT stocks like Infosys and TCS have gained by almost 1% each.

Among other frontliners, Sun Pharma is the top Sensex gainer, up 2%. M&M, Coal India, HUL, Tata Power, Cipla, GAIL and DLF have gained between 1-2%.

The main losers on the Sensex pack are L&T, Tata Motors, SBI, Wipro and Maruti Suzuki, all falling down between 1-2%.

Pharma stocks are in the limelight after a global rating agency Fitch said its outlook on India's pharmaceutical sector for 2012 remains stable, as earnings prospects are expected to remain positive because of the growing global demand for generics and opportunities provided by patent expiries in developed markets.

Wockhardt, Orchid Chemcials, Biocon, Aurobindo Pharma, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Cipla, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories are trading higher by 2-5% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices, up almost 1% each.

Shreyas Shipping & Logistics has galloped 20% to Rs 32.90 after the board of directors of the company decided to segregate the business of shipping and logistics.

JK Lakshmi Cement has soared 20% at Rs 57.80 after the company announced buyback of its own equity shares from the exiting shareholders.

The overall market breadth in BSE remains positive with 1,352 shares advancing and 1,046 shares declining.