<b>RBI Effect: </b>Sensex stands firm, up 155pts

Reserve Bank of India Governor Y V Reddy has hiked the repo and reverse repo rate by 25 basis points. However, the CRR and bank rate remain unchanged.

The Sensex, however, stands firm with a gain of 155 points at 10,371.

HDFC Bank has surged 4% to Rs 759, and ICICI Bank has added 3.3% to Rs 532.

Dr.Reddy's and Reliance Communications have gained around 4% each at Rs 1,307 and Rs 250, respectively. NTPC is up 3.2% at Rs 111.

Tata Motors, HDFC, HLL, Reliance Energy and ACC are up 2-3% each.

Out of 2,148 stocks traded so far, 1,449 have advanced, 631 have declined and the rest are unchanged.