Sensex rangebound; Mid & Smallcap outperform, ICICI most active

Moneycontrol Bureau12:59 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices gained strength in afternoon trade with the Sensex rising 105.35 points to 28182.53 and the Nifty climbing 25.60 points to 8718.65.About 1667 shares advanced against 905 declining shares on the BSE.12:43 pm Europe opens: European stocks opened slightly higher with investors focused on fresh economic data and corporate earnings.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was 0.44 percent higher.

Investors are focused on flash manufacturing and services PMIs for the euro zone.12:30 pm CLSA on Oberoi Realty: The brokerage house continued to rate Oberoi Realty buy with a new target price of Rs 398 (Rs 360 earlier)."Oberoi’s 2Q presales increased 24 percent QoQ to Rs 500 crore, a positive surprise given subdued market conditions. The presale increase was seen both at its luxury Worli project (up 27 pe) and at other locations (up 21%). The 100k sf of new office leasing space was also encouraging. Its 2Q P&L was subdued, partly on higher rainfall activity. With Rs48bn in presales yet to enter its P&L, visibility on future revenue recognition and cash flow remains high," it explains.12:15 pm Japan's data: Japanese manufacturing activity expanded in October at the fastest pace in nine months as new orders rose, a preliminary survey showed on Monday, suggesting domestic demand could lead to higher economic growth.

The Flash Markit/Nikkei Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 51.7 in October from a final 50.4 in the previous month.

The index remained above the 50 threshold that separates expansion from contraction for the second month and showed that activity expanded at the fastest since January.

The index for new orders rose to a preliminary 51.3 from 49.6 in the previous month, marking the first expansion in nine months.

The flash index for new export orders rose to 53.1 from a final 51.1 in September, indicating the second consecutive month of growth.Also read - Idea Q2 profit seen down 40%, pricing pressure may continue12:00 pm Market check

Equity benchmarks remained rangebound ahead of expiry of October derivative contracts this week while the broader markets outperformed.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 45.42 points at 28122.60 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 7.15 points to 8700.20 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.25 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

The market breadth continued to be strong as about 1569 shares advanced against 925 declining shares on the BSE.

ICICI Bank, Oberoi Realty, SBI, Jindal Steel, Tata Motors (DVR), Axis Bank, ITC and NCC were most active shares on exchanges.

Markets in Asia were mixed, as Japanese shares held steady as data showed the country's exports fell less than expected in September despite a relatively stronger yen.