Indian equities were trading in a narrow range with optimistic bias owing to lack of confidence amongst investors at subsisting levels.

Benefits in FMCG, real estate and oil&gas sections can counterbalance losses in pharma, capital goods and automobile.

As per IIFL report, "The Prime Minister on Friday reiterated what we all know too well- that inflation posed a "serious threat to the growth momentum." Investors will be wary of taking heavy positions even though many counters seem attractive. Stick to the large caps in case you decide to make some purchase. Meanwhile, RBI's Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn said Egypt's crisis will impact the RBI's actions."

At 12:00, the 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was ruling 58.74 points (0.33%) up at 18066.89.

It hit an intraday high of 18135.02 and an intraday low of 17995.45 thus far.

In contrast, the 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange stood at 5,408.35 after making a gain of 12.60 points (0.23%) after hitting an intraday peak of 5431.50 and an intraday low of 5385.

The BSE Midcap Index shed 0.29% and the BSE Smallcap Index remained down by 0.45%.

In terms of the Sectoral indices, BSE FMCG Index gained 1.27% followed by the BSE Realty Index, which climbed 1.19% and the BSE Oil&gas Index zoomed 0.55%.

BSE Healthcare Index slipped 1.26% and the BSE Capital Goods Index surged 0.53%.

The major gainers comprised in the Sensex pack were Hero Honda, which surged 3.46%, ITC gained 2.09%, HDFC Bank advanced 1.87%, Bharti Airtel climbed 1.87%, and JP Associates remained up by 1.62%.

The top losers' list included Cipla, which shed 2.99%, Hindalco lost 2.13%, Tata Motors fell 1.87%, Wipro dropped 1.69% and L&T was weak by 1.28%.

The overall breadth of the stock market remained negative on the BSE with 1427 declines against 1178 advances.