Markets stable in noon trades

The markets are on a steady path on the back of positive European cues. The Sensex is up 37 points at 18,088 and the Nifty is at 5,430, up 11 points. On the European front, FTSE is up 0.2%, while CAC and DAX have gained 0.6% and 0.5% respectively.

Among the BSE Sectoral Indices, Bankex, up 0.9%, continues to lead the gainers list. Oil & Gas (up 0.3%) is another major gainer. Realty, Teck and IT continue to languish in the red. In the Oil & Gas space, HPCL has added 2%, Cairn India is up nearly 2% after a bad session yesterday and BPCL has inched higher by 1%. In the realty space, the draggers are D B Realty and Sobha Developers, down 2% each, followed by Peninsula Land and HDIL.

The gainers in the Sensex- 30 list are HDFC Bank, Hindalco and HDFC up 1% eachfollowed by ACC, Jindal Steel and ITC.

Sterlite continues to lead the Sensex losers list followed by ONGC, Reliance Infrastructure and Bharti Airtel.

Market breadth continues to remain positive. 1486 scrips advance while 1387decline.