Markets steady in noon trades

The markets are trading steady, albeit off their intra-day highs, in the afternoon session. The Sensex is now quoting at 17444, higher by 33 points and the Nifty is at 5219, up 14 points.

The leading gainers on the Sensex are HDFC Bank (strengthened by 1.5% at Rs 1867, Jaiprakash Associates (appreciated by 1.1% at Rs 148) and Reliance Industries (added 1.1% at Rs 1085). BHEL, Sterlite and ONGC are the other notable gainers.

The major Sensex losers are Bharti Airtel (weakened by 2.8% at Rs 307), Tata Motors (shed 2.3% at Rs 742) and ACC (lost 1.4% at Rs 955).

Pharma is the leading sectoral gainer on the BSE. Hopes of a surge in US exports post the passage of the healthcare bill by the US Congress drove the space up by more than 1%. Aurobindo Pharma (up 1.3%), Cipla (up 1.96%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 2.1%), Glenmark Pharma (up 1.7%) and Lupin (up 1.1%) are in the limelight.

The market breadth is positive. Out of 2697 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1437 advancing stocks as against 1155 declines.