Markets trading flat

Subdued trades marked the noon session, with the Sensex up by only 21 points at 18,491, and the Nifty at 5,536 down 1 point.

Hero Honda continued to dominate the Sensex gainers list up more than 6% at Rs 1,701, followed by Reliance Industries at Rs 962 up nearly 2% and ONGC at Rs 314 up more than 1%. Metal stocks Jindal Steel and Hindalco Industries added 1% each, as did HDFC and Mahindra & Mahindra.

On the losing front, Tata Power topped the list at Rs 1,259 down 3%, while Reliance Infra shed nearly 3% at Rs 627 and Cipla lost 1% to Rs 305. Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, Reliance Communications and NTPC shed 1% each.

The broader markets conitnued to trade firm, with the Mid-cap index at 6,889 up 0.3% and the Small-cap index at 8,433 up 0.5%.

THe Consumer Durables counter replaced the Oil & Gas index as the top sectoral gainer up 1.3% at 6,226, followed by the Oil & Gas counter at 9,903 and the Auto index at 9,073 both up 1%.

Power stocks were trading weak, and the index lost 1% at 2,606. The realty index declined 0.5% to 2,115.

The market breadth remained positive, with 1,403 advances versus 1,055 declines.

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(Updated at 1135 hrs)

Range-bound trade continued in the markets, after a wide fluctuation of 154 points in the early morning trades. The Sensex moved up negligibly by 10 points to 18,480, while the Nifty slipped 7 points to 5,531.

Hero Honda was the top gainer on the Sensex up by a whopping 6% at Rs 1,691, followed by ONGC at Rs 315 up 2% and Reliance Industries at Rs 959 up 1%. Jaiprakash Associates, Jindal Steel, HDFC and Hindalco Industries added 1% each.

On the other hand, Reliance Infra was the top loser on the Sensex down 3% at Rs 626, while Cipla at Rs 305 and Hindustan Unilever at Rs 272 shed 1% each. NTPC, HDFC Bank, Sterlite Industries and Tata Power declined 1% each.

The broader markets were trading marginally higher than the benchmark, with the Mid-cap index at 6,884 up 0.3% and the Small-cap index at 8,428 up 0.5%.

Amongst the sectoral indices, the energy counter added more than % at 9,895, followed by the Consumer Durables index at 6,205 up 1% and the Auto index at 9,062 up 0.8%.

On the oil & gas counter, ONGC was the top gainer, followed by Gail India at Rs 452, RIL at Rs 958 and Oil India at Rs 1,387 all up 1%.

The Power index was the laggard on the sectoral front down 0.6% at 2,611, while the Healthcare index slipped 0.6% to 6,085 and the FMCG counter fell 0.5% to 3,663.

With 1,325 advances versus 986 declines, the market breadth was positive.