The Sensex and the Nifty came off day's high in early afternoon trade. The Nifty retracted after touching 11,900-mark. At 12:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 126.69 points or 0.32% at 39,718.77. The Nifty 50 index was up 35.95 points or 0.3% at 11,883.50.

The broader market outperformed the main stock indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.40%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.79%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1339 shares rose and 859 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.

Arrow Greentech (up 19.96%), Signet Industries (up 18.26%), Morepen Laboratories (up 13.99%), LT Foods (up 11.65%) and Dilip Buildcon (up 7.57%) were major gainers in the S&P BSE Small-Cap index.

Flexituff Ventures International (down 18.03%), Vivimed Labs (down 10.06%) and Rushil Décor (down 9.99%) were major losers in the S&P BSE Small-Cap index.

Cox & Kings hit a lower circuit limit of 10% at Rs 40.50. Brickwork Ratings India downgraded Cox & Kings' non-convertible debenture issue rating to BWR AA-; Stable from BWR AA; Stable. The ratings on commercial paper issue and commercial paper issue (carved out) were reaffirmed at BWR A1+.

Realty stocks were in demand. Prestige Estates Projects (up 5.45%), Anant Raj (up 5.31%), Godrej Properties (up 3.73%), Oberoi Realty (up 2.53%), Mahindra Lifespace Developers (up 2.28%), Sunteck Realty (up 2.26%), Sobha (up 1.48%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 1.42%), Phoenix Mills (up 0.75%) and Omaxe (up 0.25%) surged. Sector bellwether DLF was down 0.16%.

The S&P BSE Realty was up 38.21 points or 1.78% at 2,190.15.

Aster DM Healthcare was up 2.97% to Rs 128.45. True North Fund III A sold 3.73 crore shares, or 7.40% equity, in Aster DM Healthcare at Rs 120.03 per share yesterday, 26 June 2019, on NSE. As on 31 March 2019, True North Fund III A held 8.23% stake in the company.

In separate deals, HDFC Mutual Fund purchased 48.28 lakh shares (0.96% stake), Tata AIA Life Insurance Company bought 50 lakh shares (0.99% stake), Steinberg India Emerging Opportunities Fund acquired 25.55 lakh shares (0.51% stake), Ontario Pension Board bought 27.65 lakh shares (0.55% stake) and Fidelity Management Trust Company purchased 48.28 lakh shares (0.96% stake) in Aster DM Healthcare. The shares in each of the above transactions were acquired at Rs 120 each yesterday, 26 June 2019, on NSE.

The June 2019 F&O contracts expire today, 27 June 2019. Market is likely to see volatility due to F&O expiry as traders roll over positions in the F&O segment from the near month June 2019 series to July 2019 series.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 3.2% at 14.2775.

On the options front, Nifty option chain for 27 June 2019 expiry showed maximum call open interest (OI) of 46.17 lakh contracts at the 11,900 strike price. Maximum put OI of 57.16 lakh contracts was seen at 11,800 strike price. Options data suggested a trading range for Nifty will be between 11,700 and 11,800.