Sensex at day's high; SBI, ICICI Bank rally

Fresh buying at the banking stocks lifted the Sensex to the day's high of 10,865 - up 104 points from the day's low. The index is now up 50 points at 10,854.

SBI has rallied 2.5% to Rs 952. ICICI Bank has advanced 2% to Rs 615. HDFC has moved up 1.5% to Rs 1,328.

ACC and Gujarat Ambuja have spurted 2% each to Rs 774 and Rs 100, respectively. Grasim is up 1.6% at Rs 1,893.

Bajaj Auto has surged 1.3% to Rs 2,845. ITC and Dr.Reddy's are the other notable gainers among the Sensex stocks.

Satyam has slipped 1.5% to Rs 818, and Wipro has dropped 1% to Rs 527.

Hindalco is down 1.2% at Rs 159.

The market breadth continues to remain negative. Out of 2,450 stocks traded so far, 1,263 have declined, 1,115 have advanced and the rest are unchanged.