Sensex adds gains

The market has firmed up in the afternoon trades, after a volatile opening and a subsequent fall in early trades. After recovering from its lows in late morning trades, the index has steadily moved on increased buying in select old and new economy stocks.

The Sensex has added 27 points to 6,562, while the Nifty is up seven points at 2,062.

The breadth of the market is also positive with 1,212 advances and 582 declines on the BSE.

Reliance is unchanged with a per cent gain (Rs 4) at Rs 534. While HLL is trading a tad lower at Rs 162, ITC is down Rs 8 at Rs 1,323.

Infosys has inched up by Rs 9 to Rs 2,038. While Wipro is up a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 693, Satyam is flat at Rs 404.

HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank are still trading with a per cent gain each at Rs 565 (up Rs 4) and Rs 363 (up Rs 3), respectively. SBI, however, is trading marginally lower at Rs 642.

ACC has moved up 1.50% (Rs 5) to Rs 371. Grasim and Gujarat Ambuja are marginally up at Rs 1,342 and Rs 456, respectively.

Maruti has advanced 2.14% (Rs 10) to Rs 469. Bajaj (up Rs 6 to Rs 1,070), Hero Honda (up Rs 2 to Rs 536) and Tata Motors (up Rs 3 to Rs 495) are trading with steady gains.

Hindalco has added 1.49% (Rs 20) to Rs 1,386, and HDFC has gained 2% (Rs 17) to Rs 809. While Reliance Energy is up 1.45% (Rs 8) at Rs 578, Tata Power and Tisco are up with steady gains at Rs 393 and Rs 401, respectively.

Bharti at Rs 217 (down Rs 4 or 1.65%), however, is still exhibiting weakness.

Metal stocks have attracted buying support. Ispat, with a volume of over 94.15 lakh, has surged 7% (Rs 2) to Rs 28, and Gujarat NRE Coke has logged 5.95% gains (Rs 13) to Rs 233. While Sun Iron & Steel has moved up 5.25% to Rs 19, Man Industries has shot up 5% to Rs 124. Lloyd Steel, Tata Sponge, Essal Steel, Jindal Vijaynagar Steel and Jindal Steel are up in a range of 3-4%.

ABB has advanced 6.59% (Rs 76) to Rs 1,226. While Mirc Electronics has gained 5.62% to Rs 24, Alstom Project has added 4.30% to Rs 150.

IFCI, with a traded volume of over 76.47 lakh, is trading higher at Rs 19.