Tiredness seems to have set in at higher levels. The markets had surpassed important psychological levels in early trade, but have been unable to keep the momentum going.

The Sensex has drifted below the 18k mark and is now quoting at 17968, higher by 40 points and Nifty has dropped below the 5400 level to 5396, up nine points.

And this despite the fact that the major European markets have opened about half a per cent higher and the Asian markets are up between 1% and 2% each this afternoon.

Sterlite has zoomed by 2.2% at Rs 167 to top the gainers list on the BSE. DLF has hardened by 1.8% at Rs 320 and Wipro has added 1.1% at Rs 408. Hindalco, Reliance Infra and L&T are the other significant gainers.

On the other hand, RCom has lost 0.9% at Rs 189, Tata Motors has weakened by 0.9% at Rs 817 and Hindustan Unilever has lost 0.8% at Rs 261.

The market breadth is positive though. Out of 2848 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1709 advancing stocks as against 1036 declines.