Sensex opens steady, up 7 pts

The Sensex opened with a small gain of two points over its last close at 6,586. It crossed the 6,600-mark to touch an early high of 6,603 on steady buying support in select old economy stocks. The Sensex is now up seven points at 6,591. The Nifty, however, is down four points at 2,052.

Reliance has gained Rs 2 to Rs 536. ITC has dipped 1.26% (Rs 16) to Rs 1,283 in the opening trades, while HLL has opened marginally weak at Rs 145.

SBI is up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 662. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank are up Rs 2 each at Rs 567 and Rs 383, respectively.

ONGC and HPCL have clocked a per cent gain each to Rs 812 (up Rs 5) and Rs 356 (up Rs 3), respectively.

Bharti has commenced with a per cent gain (Rs 2) to Rs 220.

Infosys, however, has slipped by Rs 7 to Rs 2,159. While Satyam is down a rupee at Rs 404, Wipro has also commenced weak at Rs 688 - down Rs 3.

Auto, cement and pharma counters have commenced on a mixed note in early trades.