Heavyweights, banks decline

IT, realty and pharma stocks in green

Markets continued to trade on a volatile note this afternoon as investors booked profits ahead of the Christmas holiday on Tuesday. Indices are expected to be volatile through the week as traders roll over their positions for the end of the December series on Thursday.

BSE Sensex is up 36 points at 19,278. Nifty is up 8 points at 5,856.

Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite is trading flat at 2,159. Kospi and Taiwan also traded on a quiet note, with banks and gold miners among the outperformers.

BSE IT index has added 1.13% at 5,687 on bargain hunting after recent decline in share prices of IT firms. Healthcare and realty space has also seen buying momentum and are up around 1% each.

On the other hand, BSE oil & gas index has seen some selling and is down half a per cent at 8,301. Bankex, capital goods and consumer durables traded flat.

Tata Motors was the top gainer among Sensex stocks - up 1.8% at Rs 305. Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and Wipro are up 1-2% each. Tata Power, Bajaj Auto and Tata Steel are some of the other gainers.

ONGC slipped 1.8% at Rs 256. Maruti Suzuki, Jindal Steel dropped 1.5% each. Among other gainers were heavyweights - ICICI Bank and Reliance.

BSE market breadth is neutral. Out of 2749 stocks traded, 1371 stocks have advanced while 1249 stocks have declined.