Markets Trading In Narrow Range

As mentioned in our morning update, the Indian markets opened negative in line with global cues. At present, both the indices are trading in a very narrow range, with the Sensex up 0.05% to levels of 16224, and Nifty trading marginally lower by 0.03% to levels of 4906. Among the sectors, Auto and Realty are trading lower by 0.65% and 0.56% respectively, while Capital Goods and IT are trading higher.

Other Asian markets are trading in a mixed bag, with Hang Seng trading higher and Nikkei and Shanghai trading lower. The markets are trading lower after the possibility of Greece's exit from the Euro zone, which may further heighten the sovereign debt crisis.

Back home, the Auto stocks slid with Maruti Suzuki among the leading index losers, down 2.12% to Rs 1220.45. Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors are also trading lower by 0.62% and 0.57% respectively. Realty heavyweight, DLF, is also trading lower by 0.74% at Rs 181. Other stocks like Hindalco, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, etc. are trading marginally in red.

On the other hand, L&T extended its gains from yesterday, and is the leading index gainer after it reported a good set of Q4 numbers. The stock is up 4.15% at Rs 1207.95. Other stocks like Wipro, Cipla, Jindal Steel, Tata Power, etc. are trading higher in the range of 0.5%-1.5%. BHEL, HDFC and HUL are trading with marginal gains.

Uflex is trading 1.03% higher at Rs 103.15 after investors saw a buying opportunity in the beaten down stock. However, it should be noted that the company reported dismal Mar 2012 quarter numbers.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is negative as of now. 964 stocks declined, 776 gained, while 101 stocks remained unchanged.

To conclude, we expect the markets to remain volatile for the day.