Sensex firm; ICICI Bank up 2%

 The Sensex is now at 17,661, up 86 points. The NSE Nifty is 5,287, up 18 points.

Among the Sensex-30 stocks, ICICI Bank has advanced 2% to Rs 966. It is followed by Larsen and Toubro, SBI  and DLF are up 1.5% each.

The other major gainers are DLF, Reliance and Infosys, up 1% each.

Sun Pharma has slipped 2% to Rs 1,679. ACC, Hero Honda, Tata Steel and Sterlite are down 2% each on the BSE.

The market breadth is fairly neutral, out of 2,885 shares traded, 1,400 have advanced and 1,376 have declined so far on the BSE.

Among the sectoral indices, bankex has advanced 1% to 11,027 while the metal index has slipped 1% on the BSE.