Sensex rangebound; HDFC, Wipro, Reliance, TCS dive

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in a narrow range around their previous closing values. The 50-share NSE Nifty was trying to hold the 5600 level since early trade, which fell 8.35 points to 5,601.65.

Meanwhile, the 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 26.6 points to 18,515.71 due to weakness in Asian markets. Shanghai, Nikkei, Straits Times and Taiwan Weighted were down 0.2-0.4%.

Housing finance company HDFC and software services exporter Wipro were down 2-2.5%. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries and top IT services exporter TCS fell 1.5% each.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank lost over 1% while its rival public sector lender State Bank of India gained 2%.

Commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors slipped 1% and aluminium major Hindalco Industries was down nearly 2%.

Shares of Infosys, BHEL and GAIL topped the buying list among Sensex 30, rising more than 2%. Cigarette major ITC went up 1.6% and telecom operator Bharti Airtel moved up over 1%.

State-owned lender Punjab National Bank shot up 5%.

In the smallcap space, ESS DEE Aluminium, Praj Industries, Surana Industries, SPML Infra and Triveni Engineering were up 7-16% while Atlanta, Kanani Industries, Panacea Biotec and Sandesh were down 4-5%.