Mid-day Mood | Sensex scales 70,000 even as action remains lacklustre

The market breadth also favoured gainers as about 2,074 shares rose, 1,179 fell, and 112 remained unchanged.

The benchmark indices extended gains from last week, albeit marginally as of afternoon trade on December 11, with the BSE S&P Sensex hitting the 70,000-mark for the first time. Despite that, the overall action in the market remained lacklustre given the overbought conditions after stellar gains seen last week.

The listless trade in today's session also mirrored the trend seen across most Asian markets.

Around noon, the Sensex was up 53.38 points or 0.08 percent at 69,878.98, and the Nifty was up 14.30 points or 0.07 percent at 20,983.70. The market breadth also favoured gainers as about 2,074 shares rose, 1,179 fell, and 112 remained unchanged.

Going ahead, analysts do foresee the possibility of some profit booking as investors would want to cash in the bull run seen in the market in recent weeks. However, they advise investors to use any decline in the market as an opportunity to accumulate quality stocks.

"According to the charts Nifty may be taking support at 20,900, followed by 20,850 and 20,800. On the higher side, 21,050 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 21,150 and 21,200," said Deven Mehta, research analyst, Choice Broking.

Follow our market blog to catch all the live action

"Traders can place a strategy of buying the dips at the initial support near 20,850-20,900 with a stop loss of 20700 levels. Investors holding their long positions should keep trailing their stop losses for further up move," Mehta added.

Stocks and sectors

Shares of Dr Reddy's Labs emerged as the biggest laggards on the Nifty as they slumped around 6 percent amid concerns of some severe observations issued by the US Food and Drugs Administration for the company's Bachupally unit.

Shares of Cipla also fell over a percent after its arm voluntarily recalled one lot of Vigabatrin to the consumer level due to seal integrity issues that could lead to powder leakage from the pouch. Losses in major pharma stocks also weighed on the Nifty Pharma index, dragging it nearly one percent lower.

Shares of two Adani flagship companies- Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports resumed their uptrend after a breather in the previous session. While Adani Enterprises rose over 2 percent to top the list of gainers on the Nifty, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone gained over a percent.

Tata Motors also rose over a percent after the company announced plans to hike prices for commercial vehicles by 3 percent from January 1.

Among other major gainers was SpiceJet, which jumped over 6 percent following the company's plans to soon list on the National Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, the momentum was much stronger in the broader market as the Nifty Smallcap 100 jumped 0.8 percent while the Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.4 percent.

Also Read | As Sensex tops 70,000 long-term momentum intact, but some profit booking possible

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.