Sensex, Nifty choppy but Midcap, Smallcap continue to gain 1%

Moneycontrol Bureau12:54 pm Market update: Benchmark indices were near day's low. The Sensex was down 77.11 points at 27750.42 and the Nifty down 21.05 points at 8570.20.About 1665 shares advanced against 755 declining shares on the BSE.Off 52-Week Highs12:37 pm Europe opens: European stocks opened sharply lower as concerns over the systemic risk posed by German banks weighed on investor sentiment.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 1.3 percent.

European stocks follwed the trend in Asia's trading session where markets were lower across the board on the final trading day of the quarter, after concerns over Deutsche Bank's stability drove down sentiment in US markets Thursday.

12:17 pm Outlook: Anish Damania, CEO and Head - Institutional Equities, IDFC Securities, said the broking firm is sticking to its Nifty target of 8,900 and said that it does not expect a major correction in stocks arising out of yesterday's border skirmish between India and Pakistan."Midcaps, however, could see further correction," he said.IDFC recently did a roadshow in Australia, from where India gets about USD 6-7 billion of inflows. Damania said investor interest from the country remains strong.Also read - Govt notifies MPC; to decide interest rates in October 4 policy12:00 pm Market Check

Benchmark indices remained rangebound in noon trade while the broader markets continued to outperform with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 1 percent each.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 49.52 points at 27778.01 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 8.15 points to 8583.10. The market breadth remained positive as about 1659 shares advanced against 678 declining shares on the BSE.

The volatility witnessed in the market yesterday, after geopolitical concerns and worries of rising macro-economic instability, led to some "cleansing" in market sentiment and will help it start afresh in October, says Tushar Mahajan, Head of Listed Futures & Options - India, Nomura.

Cipla was the biggest loser, falling 6 percent followed by Coal India, Bharti Airtel, Bharti Infratel, L&T, Adani Ports and HDFC with 1-2 percent loss. However, Reliance Industries, Infosys, SBI, M&M, ONGC, GAIL and Wipro gained 1-3 percent.