Markets remain steady

The benchmark indices are seemingly taking time to digest the gains of the early morning. The Sensex is quoting firm at 16750, higher by 92 points and the Nifty is at 5034, up 34 points. The midcap index is quoting at 6828, higher by 37 points and the smallcap index is at 8566, up 74 points. All the sectoral indices are in the green.

Bharti Airtel is the leading gainer on the BSE for the second consecutive day. The telecom major is quoting at Rs 277, stronger by 1.8%. SBI is stronger by 1.6% at Rs 2310 and Reliance Infra is higher by 1.4% at Rs 1085. Maruti, BHEL and HDFC are the other significant gainers.

In the midcap space, Pantaloon Retail, Kwality Dairy, Geekay Finance are continuing the good run of the previous day and have added nearly 5% each.  

And Tata Metaliks, Shristi Infrastructure and Cals Refineries have added between 6% abd 13% each in the smallcap index.

On the losers side, ICICI Bank (lower by 0.8% at Rs 819), ACC (weaker by 0.4% at Rs 853) and Sterlite (down 0.4% at Rs 626) are the major draggers on the BSE.

The market breadth is strong. Out of 2384 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1602 advancing stocks as against 705 declines.