BSE Sensex: Market remains range bound

Mumbai, July 18: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex advanced by a mere 4.46 points at 15,294.28 by noon today from it's previous close of 15,289.82 after opening higher at 15,296.06, subdued by weak Asian markets.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty Index is also higher by around 2 points at 4,98.20 from it's previous close of 4,496.75 after opening higher at 4,498.65.

''The Sensex was range bound in early afternoon trade, oscillating in a range of 50-odd points in the past one hour of trade,'' market analysts said.

BSE data revealed tha the total turnover so far amounted to Rs 2,567 crore. The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, was just about even with 1,277 shares declining as compared to 1,233 advancing, while 71 remained unchanged. From the Sensex pack, 18 were in the red, while the rest had gained.

The early winners included Reliance Energy (REL), Bajaj Auto, Reliance Communications and Tata Steel.

Reliance Industries (RIL), Dr Reddy's, Tata Motors, ONGC, GMR Infrastructure and L&T slipped on profit booking.

All the Asian markets moved lower today, with Japanese shares including those of electricity producer Tokyo Electric Power Co and insurers such as Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co declining sharply following the powerful earthquake in northern Japan on Monday.

Japan's Nikkei tumbled 1.11 per cent to 18,015.89.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng tanked 0.41 per cent at 22,963.63 and Singapore's Straits Times was down 0.47 per cent at 3,633.93.

However, Shanghai Composite was an exception, advancing 0.76 per cent to 3,925.76.

Meanwhile, shares surged on Wall Street yesterday with the Dow hitting 14,000 for the first time as several blue-chip companies reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The Dow Jones rose 20.57 points, or 0.15 per cent, to close at 13,971.55. Broader stock indicators ended mixed. The Standard&Poor's 500 index slipped 0.15 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 1,549.37 having set its own record highs in recent sessions. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 14.96 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 2,712.29.

UNI