Markets remain volatile in a narrow range

Benchmark indices continue to witness flat activity in the late morning trades ahead of October F&O expiry today. Market will remain cautious as traders will roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month to November series. The near month October derivatives contract will expire today.

The data for two important indicators -- fiscal deficit and core sector -- for the month of September are likely to be released today.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1016.77 crore on Wednesday, 30 October 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

At 11:40 AM the Sensex was up 31 points at 21,065 and the Nifty was up 7 points at 6,258.

On the global front, Asian markets suffered a glancing blow on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve's latest policy outlook was deemed less dovish than some had wagered on, lifting both bond yields and the dollar.

The damage was mostly superficial with MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan off just 0.3%. Shares in Shanghai lost 0.7% while Japan's Nikkei eased 0.4%.

Helping sentiment was the Bank of Japan's decision to stick with its massive stimulus program that has shown tentative signs of breaking the grip of deflation.

Back home, the rupee is trading at 61.35 versus its close of 61.2350/2450, hurt by broad gains in the dollar following the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to keep its massive bond-buying stimulus in place.

Bank of India, Dr Reddy's Labs, IDFC, Sesa Sterlite, Titan Inds will unveil their second quarter earnings.

On the sectoral front, BSE Consumer Durables and Capital Goods indices have surged between 1-2%. However, BSE Bankex, Healthcare, PSU and FMCG indices have declined between 0.2-0.4%.

The main gainers on the Sensex at this hour include Bharti Airtel, Wipro, RIL, Coal India and Tata Motors have spurted between 1-2%.

Bharti Airtel is trading higher by nearly 2%, extending its previous day’s 5% rally, after reported a strong set of operating numbers for the quarter ended September.

The stock opened at Rs 356 and touched high of Rs 370, its highest level since January this year on BSE.

On the losing side, ONGC, M&M, HUL, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Cipla and GAIL have declined between 1-1.5%.

The broader markets continue to outperform the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained between 0.5-1%.

The market breadth in BSE remains positive with 1,030 shares advancing and 871 shares declining.