Sensex gains 18 pts in early trades

The Sensex opened in the red with a six-points loss at 6,747. The trend, however, reversed to higher levels following steady to modest gains in select heavyweights, banking and other old economy counters.

Although tech majors have eased in early trades, the index gained ground to touch a high of 6,782. It is now up 18 points at 6,771, while the Nifty has gained five points to 2,097.

Reliance is up Rs 3 at Rs 558. ONGC and ITC are up with a steady gains at Rs 928 (up Rs 2) and Rs 1,587  (up Rs 6), respectively.

SBI has scaled up 1.94% (Rs 13) to Rs 679, and ICICI Bank is up a rupee at Rs 396. HDFC Bank, however, has lost 1.10% (Rs 6) to Rs 540.

Reliance Energy has gained 1.76% (Rs 10) to Rs 556. NTPC, which has made its entry into the BSE Sensex-30 stocks, is up a rupee at Rs 84.

Dr. Reddy's and Cipla have commenced with steady gains at Rs 729 and Rs 291, respectively.

Grasim and Gujarat Ambuja are up a per cent each at Rs 1,110 and Rs 446, respectively.

Hindalco has clocked a per cent gain (Rs 11) to Rs 1,120.

Infosys has reusmed on a flat note at Rs 2,242. While Wipro has lost a per cent (Rs 7) to Rs 715, Satyam, too, has resumed weak at Rs 462 - down Rs 3.