Sensex marginally up; IT index slips 2%

The Sensex after touching a high of 17,731 has pared some gains and is now at 17,676, up 32 points. The NSE Nifty is 11 points higher at 5,293.

The major gainer on the Sensex-30 stocks is Hindalco, up 3% at Rs 184. Sterlite, BHEL, Mahindra & Mahindra and HDFC have added 2% each to Rs 836, Rs 2,400, Rs 547 and Rs 2,652, respectively.

Sun Pharma, Hero Honda, Maruti and SBI have added 1% each on the BSE.

Infosys is the major dragger on the Sensex, down 2.5% at Rs 2,711. TCS, Wipro and Tata Motors are down 0.5% each on the Sensex.

The market breadth is positive, out of 2,453 shares traded, 1,318 have advanced and 1,053 have declined so far on the BSE.

Among the sectoral indices, IT index has slipped 2% to 5,422. Infosys has slipped 2% and Mphasis has dropped 1.5%, respectively on the IT index.

The metal, auto and bankex have added 1% each on the Sensex.

The BSE Midcap and the smallcap indices have dropped 0.5% each.