Realty index drags market

Markets have not taken any direction since opening this morning. Earlier in the day, the Sensex touched a low of 17,872 and a high of 17,979. The index is now down 48 points at 17,890.

Nifty is down 17 points at 5,369.

BSE realty index is down over 1% at 3,434. However, the FMCG index is up 0.6% at 3,206.

Hindustan Unilever continues to gain 1.5% at Rs 262. Tata Steel added 1.3% to Rs 513. ACC and Wipro were up 1% each at Rs 814 and Rs 401, respectively.

IT stocks are marginally in green. TCS is up at Rs 780 ahead of its numbers. Wipro and Infosys have advanced 0.6% each to Rs 401 and Rs 2,757, respectively.

Meanwhile, HDFC Bank has shed 1.5% at Rs 2,057. Reliance Communications and BHEL have dropped 1.3% each to Rs 184 and Rs 2,430, respectively.

Bharti Airtel, HDFC, DLF and Hero Honda are the other major losers today.

Among the realty stocks, Sobha Developers has dropped 1.6% to Rs 328. Phoenix Mills and Parsvnath Developers have dipped 1.5% each. Unitech, HDIL, Orbit Corp amd Peninsula Land are among the other realty losers right now.