The Sensex ended at 16,357, up 50 points, and the Nifty ended at 4,891, up 24 points (provisional closing).
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(Updated at 1509pm)
The markets are trading in the positive, led by a recovery in the rate-sensitive banking and realty stocks post the monetary policy announcement by the central bank. The Sensex is now at 16,361, up 54 points and the Nifty is at 4,883, up 15 points.
ICICI Bank is the top gainer on the Sensex, up 5.6% at Rs 833, DLF has added 2.8% at Rs 333 and BHEL has advanced 2.8% to Rs 2,400. SBI, HDFC Bank and HDFC are the other notable gainers.
Hindustan Unilever is the major loser on the Sensex, down 4.6% at Rs 243. Wipro declined 4.1% to Rs 645, Tata Steel shed 2.4% at Rs 571 and Tata Motors lost 2.2% at Rs 699. The other major losers are Bharti Airtel, Sterlite and ITC.
The market breadth has turned neutral. Out of 2,852 shares traded on the BSE, there are 1,430 declining stocks as against 1359 advances.