The markets are trading in the positive zone as global markets have improved on news of easing Dubai fears. Abu Dhabi has lent $10 billion to Dubai as emergency funds.
Asian markets have all rebounded into the positive territory. Hang Seng has rallied over 200 points, and Shanghai has gained 50-odd points.
The Sensex touched a high of 17,275 in late morning deals, but has re-treated a bit from the highs owing to higher inflation numbers. Inflation for the month of Novemeber came at 4.78% as against 1.34% in October 2009.
The Sensex is now up 118 points at 17,237. The Nifty is up 25 points at 5,143.
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(Updated at 1155 hrs)
The markets have firmed in late morning trades. The Sensex as touched a high of 17,275, and is now up 142 points at 17,261.
The NSE Nifty is up 35 points at 5,152.
The BSE Auto index has moved up 1.4% to 7,299. The Oil & Gas and IT indices are up over 1% each at 10,495 and 4,959, respectively.
ACC has surged nearly 3% to Rs 838, and Mahindra & Mahindra has rallied over 2.5% to Rs 1,057.
Grasim and Sun Pharma have gained 2% each at Rs 2,445 and Rs 1,471, respectively.
ONGC, Maruti and BHEL have advanced nearly 2% each to Rs 1,212, Rs 1,616 and Rs 2,406, respectively.
Infosys and Hindalco are up around 1.5% each at Rs 2,495 and Rs 144, respectively.
Bharti Airtel, however has slipped nearly 2% at Rs 326.
The market breadth is marginally positive - out of 2,626 stocks traded so far, 1,325 have advanced, 1,226 have declined.
Cox & Kings tops the value chart with a turnover of Rs 151.10 crore followed by Tata Steel (Rs 59.26 crore), SBI (Rs 39.49 crore), HDIL (Rs 30.73 crore) and Reliance (Rs 29.44 crore).
Radhe Developers leads the volume chart with trades of around 38.83 lakh shares on the BSE. It is followed by Cox & Kings (33.37 lakh), IFCI (32.03 lakh), Satyam (26.92 lakh) and Austral Coke (26.25 lakh).