Nifty holds 8,250; BSE Midcap & Smallcap indices up 0.5%

Benchmark indices continue to trade in a tight range with negative bias weighed down by financials and metal shares.

By 10:33, the Sensex was lower by 49 points at 27,450 and the Nifty dipped by 15 points at 8,267 levels.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up over 0.5%.

The market breadth in BSE remains positive with 1,297 shares advancing and 645 shares declining.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 481.08 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

Further, India's fiscal deficit was Rs 5.25 trillion ($83.08 billion) during April-November, or 98.9% of the full-year target, data released after market hours yesterday showed. The deficit was 93.9% during the same period a year ago.

SECTORS & STOCKS

Sectors like Metal, Oil & Gas and Banks are trading marginally in negative zone. However, BSE Capital Goods index has gained over 0.5%.

Metal stocks are trading lower after official data showed growth in China's factory sector slowed in December. China is the world's largest consumer of steel, copper and aluminum. Hindalco, Coal India, Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel have slipped between 0.1-1%.

Other notable losers are HDFC, NTPC, Dr Reddy’s Labs, GAIL and HDFC Bank.

India's annual infrastructure output growth accelerated to a five-month high of 6.7 percent in November, driven by higher production of cement and refinery products. BHEL and L&T have gained between 0.3-1%.

Among other shares, DB Realty has gained around 11% at Rs 77.75 in BSE extending yesterday's gains as investors' interest in the stock remained upbeat on positive cues generated by the Bombay High court orders related to three large projects being developed by companies in which DB Realty either has either controlling or significant stakes.