<b>RBI Effect:</b> Sensex up 190pts; Bankex up 4%

The Sensex and is now up 190 points at 10,405.

The BSE Bankex has advanced 3.7% to 4550.

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.

ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have advanced over 4% each to Rs 537 and Rs 760, respectively.

Reliance Communications, Cipla and Dr.Reddy's have gained over 3% each to Rs 249, Rs 223 and Rs 1,297, respectively.

NTPC, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, HLL and Grasim are up over 2.5% each at Rs 111, Rs 2,118, Rs 491, Rs 234 and Rs 1,920, respectively.

Out of 2,399 stocks traded so far, 1,570 have advanced, 746 have declined and 83 are unchanged.