Sensex volatile, Nifty hovers around 8,200; Realty up for 7th day in row

In a volatile trading session, the benchmark indices scuttled between gains and losses after data showed services industry in December contracted for the second month in a row. However, positive trend seen in global markets on abundance of upbeat global economic data capped losses. 

At 01:36 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 26,682, up 39 points, while Nifty50 was ruling at 8,203, up 11 points. 

Broader markets continued to outpace headline indices with BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap gaining 0.2% and 0.7%, respectively. 

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1,652