Indian equities were trading in a narrow range lacking triggers to drive the stock indices on either path.

All the sectoral indices, barring pharma scrips, remained in negative.

At 12:25 pm, the Sensex stood at 17996.14, up 67.72 points, while the broad-based Nifty gained 18.65 points at 5405.10.

According to Edelweiss report, “Close above 5430 would pave way for further upside but near term consolidation is likely to continue. There is a mild probability that current impulse may have ended at high of 5453, confirmation of which can be on further price action. The possibility has reduced with some sideways price action in last 2 sessions. Intraday support exists at 5350 while 5400-5430 would be supply zone.”

The BSE Midcap Index and BSE Smallcap Index gained 0.50% and 0.62% respectively.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Realty Index climbed 1.82%, BSE Metal Index grew 1.26% and BSE Capital Goods Index grew by 0.54%.

But, the BSE Healthcare Index dropped 0.11%.

The overall market breadth remained optimisticas it witnessed 1715 advancements as against 1033 declinations.

The top Sensex gainers included Sterlite Ind (2.35%), DLF (2.30%), Hindalco Ind (1.67%), Tata Steel (1.25%) and Rel Infra (1.13%).

The top losers comprised HUL (-0.66%), Hero Honda (-0.32%), Jindal Steel (-0.18%), SBI (-0.17%) and Tata Power (-0.17%).