Sensex ends up 159 pts

The Sensex has ended (provisional) at 20,020 - ip 159 points. Nifty has ended up 51 points at 6,010.
_____________________________________________________
(Updated at 1503 hrs)

Markets have rallied on the back of buying in realty and FMCG stocks. The Sensex and Nifty have regained the 20,000 and 6,000 levels, respectively in late noon trades.

The Sensex after touching a low of 19,834 gained smartly to touch a high of 20,048. The BSE benchmark index is now up 172 points at 20,033.

Nifty is up 53 points at 6,013.

BSE realty index has gained 2.3% at 3,681. Sobha Developers has rallied 6$ to Rs 391. Sensex stock - DLF and Unitech have jumped 3-5% each to Rs 365 and Rs 85, respectively. Other gainers in the space include Parsvnath Developers, Orbit Corporation and Indiabulls Real Estate.

The FMCG and Consumer Durables indices have added over 1% each.

FMCG stocks have gained smartly. Hindustan Unilever has added 3.3% to Rs 313. ITC is up 1%.

Bharti Airtel, Hero Honda, Reliance Communications, Reliance Infrastructure and ONGC are up 1-3% each.

Banking stocks are up. ICICI Bank has jumped 1.2% at Rs 1,113. HDFC Bank is up 1.2% at Rs 2,489. Federal Bank has surged 4.5% to Rs 386. IDBI Bank has gained 4% at Rs 153. Among other gainers in the sector, Union Bank and Canara Bank are mentionable.