Sensex exhibits firm trend; Hindalco up 6%

The Sensex is exhibiting firm trend and is now at 16,412, up 185 points. The NSE Nifty is at 4,910, up 55 points.

Hindalco and Tata Steel have advanced around 6% to Rs 153 and Rs 582, respectively. Sterlite, Jaiprakash Associates, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan unilever and HDFC Bank have added 2-3% each.

The other prominent gainers were Maruti, Tata Power, HDFC, Tata Motors, SBI and Reliance, up 1-2% each.

DLF, Wipro and Infosys are the only major losers on the Sensex, down 0.5% each.

The market breadth is positive, out of 2,820 shares traded, 1,774 have advanced and 965 have declined so far on thE BSE.

Among the sectoral indices, consumer durables and metal indices have added 3.5% each.