Firm opening, Sensex gains 47 pts

The Sensex opened with a small gain of two points at 6,467 over its previous close. The index rallied past the 6,500-mark to touch an early high of 6,516 as strong buying emerged in old and new economy stocks. While the Sensex has advanced 47 points at 6,512, the Nifty has added 10 points to 2,035.

HDFC Bank, after a sluggish trading session yesterday, has advanced 1.92% (Rs 11) to Rs 569. While ICICI Bank has clocked 1.79% gains (Rs 7) to Rs 415, SBI is up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 651. Reliance is up Rs 2 at Rs 551.

Infosys (up Rs 13 to Rs 2,131), Wipro (up Rs 6 to Rs 652) and Satyam (up Rs 2 to Rs 412) have resumed with steady gains.

Gujarat Ambuja has added 2.49% (Rs 10) to Rs 416, and Grasim is up a per cent (Rs 9) at Rs 1,209. ACC has gained 1.60% (Rs 6) to Rs 368.

L&T is up a per cent (Rs 9) at Rs 976, while Bharti is up 1.44% (Rs 3) at Rs 211.