Markets steady; Sensex up 90 points

Markets remained subdued during the past hour of trade; the Sensex was up 93 points at 20,166, while the Nifty was at 6,038 up 27 points.

Top gainers on the benchmark index were Tata Power at Rs 1,319, followed by ICICI Bank at Rs 1,134 and DLF 287, all up 1%.

Laggards in the space were Reliance Communications at Rs 139 down 2%, Reliance Infra at Rs 807 and Sterlite Industries at Rs 183, both down 1%.

The Consumer Durables index led the sectoral pack at 6,175 up 1%, followed by the Healthcare index at 6,645 and the Capital Goods index at 15,333, also up 1%.

Metal stocks continue to lose, and the index was down at 17,248 down marginally 27 points.

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(Updated at 1030 hrs)

Buoyed by positive trading sessions the past week, along with an optimistic outlook for the January results of India Inc, the markets were trading in the green, with the Sensex up 90 points at 20,163, and the Nifty up 21 points at 6,033.

Top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power at Rs 1,322 up 2%, followed by JP Associates at Rs 104 and TCS at Rs 1,155, both up 1%. Scrips at the lower end of the index were Reliance Communications at Rs 138 down 3%, Sterlite Industries at Rs 183 and Reliance Infra at Rs 808, both down 1%.

The Realty index scaled up 1% at 2,794, followed by the Consumer Durables Index at 6,168, and the Capital Goods index at 15,337, also up 1%.

In the realty space, the highest gainers were Phoenix Mills at Rs 225 up 3%, followed by HDIL at Rs 193 and Orbit Corporation at Rs 79, both up 1%.

Metal stocks slipped into the red after last week's robust performance, with the index trailing at the bottom of the sectoral indices, down 28 points at 17,246.

Lagging on the Metal index were SAIL at Rs 182, which was the highest loser down 2%, Sterlite Industries at Rs 183 and JSW Steel at Rs 1,163, both down 1%.

Mid-cap and Small-cap stocks outperformed the top 30 stocks on the BSE, as both the indices were up 1% at 7,675 and 9,423 repsectively.

Leading stocks in the Mid-cap segment were BF Utilities up 7% at Rs 899, followed by Arss Infra Projects at Rs 829, and Blue Dart at Rs 1,077, both up 5%.

In the Small-cap space, Jindal World moved up 13% at Rs 336, followed by Lloyds Metal at Rs 44, and Marathon Next at Rs 250, both up 10%.

Talking about the current trend in the market, Jagannadham Thunuguntla, Strategist and Head of Research at SMC Global Securities Ltd, said, "Current valuations suggest that the markets have not only factored in December 2010 quarter results in the prices, but there isn’t any scope for any unpleasant surprises from the results season starting in January 2011."