Sensex off highs; Sterlite, ONGC, Tata Steel down.

“Nifty has managed to close a shad above 21 daily exponential moving averages at 5415 which is now a key trigger point on a closing basis for the market direction. The momentum oscillators MACD and RSI have rolled bearish on the hourly chart and continue to do the same on the daily chart.

Market continues to be in a flux and unable to find a direction for itself. The trading range for the Nifty is at 5350 to 5530. In a scenario where market internals are weakening and price is holding up, a breakdown is imminent and hence it is advisable to be adequately protected,” said Edelweiss report.

At 11:18 am; Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was at 18071.45, up 20.67 points or 0.11 per cent. The index touched a high of 18140.15 and low of 18049.19 in trade so far.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was at 5420.50, up 2.2 points or 0.04 per cent. The index touched intraday high of 5443.55 and low of 5418.30.

BSE Midcap Index was up 0.50 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 0.56 per cent higher.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Bankex was up 0.78 per cent, BSE FMCG Index gained 0.40 per cent and BSE Capital Goods Index advanced 0.35 per cent.

HDFC (1%), ACC (0.94%), HDFC Bank (0.86%), ITC (0.79%) and Hindalco Industries (0.73%) were amongst the top Sensex gainers.

Losers included Sterlite Industries (-1.96%), ONGC (-1.07%), Tata Steel (-0.93%), Infosys Technologies (-0.72%) and Reliance Infrastructure (-0.64%).

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1543 gainers against 1118 losers.

Asian markets continued to remain mixed. Shanghai Composite was up 0.08 per cent and Seoul Composite moved 0.76 per cent higher. Nikkei 225 was down 0.25 per cent and Strait Times slipped 0.16 per cent lower.