Markets trend higher

The markets continue to trend higher in the afternoon trades with the Sensex gaining 109 points at 18,529 and the Nifty added 33 points at 5,565. In the broader markets the midcap index is out performing up nearly 0.8% as compared to the smallcap index and the Sensex which gained 0.6% each.

Among the sectoral indices, Realty and IT indices continue to lead the gains closely  followed by Oil & Gas and Health Care. However, Capital Goods has slipped into the negative and is the only index which is in the negative.

The top gainers among the Sensex stocks for the day are Jaiprakash Associates, Infosys and Cipla up 2% each followed by RIL, TCS,Tata Steel and Reliance Infrastructure gaining 1% each.

L&T and Hindustan Unilever down 1% each are the top losers among the Sensex stocks. Hero Honda, Tata Power and Wipro losing between 0.5 - 0.8%  are teh other noteable losers.

The market breadth was positive.Of the total 2827 stocks traded on the BSE, 1489 stocks have advanced while 1208 declined.