Sensex firm in early trades

The Sensex has opened in the green mirroring strong global cues. The Sensex is now at 17,499, up 90 points and the Nifty is 18 points up at 5,241.

Among the Sensex 30 stocks, Cipla and Tata Motors have added 1.5% each at Rs 343 and Rs 771, respectively. The other major gainers are ICICI Bank, Sterlite Industries and DLF, up over 1% each.

On the losing side, Hindustan Unilever and Tata Power have slipped 0.5% each to Rs 258 and Rs 1,252, respectively.

The market breadth is positive, out of 1,352 shares traded, 1,028 have advanced and 293 have declined on the BSE.

Among the sectoral indices, IT and realty indices have added 1% each on the BSE.

The BSE Midcap and the smallcap indices are up 0.5% each.