Sensex recovers; Infosys, ITC firm

Steady gains in select heavyweight, tech, pharma and cement majors has seen the index recover from the lower levels. The Sensex is now up five points at 6,226. The Nifty, however, is still subdued at 1,947 - down eight points.

Infosys is trading higher with a gain of 1.15% (Rs 23) at Rs 1,988. While Wipro has pared losses to Rs 661 (down Rs 8), Satyam is down a tad at Rs 370.

ITC has gained 1.30% (Rs 16) to Rs 1,258. While HLL is still trading on a flat note at Rs 140, Reliance is down Rs 2 at Rs 519.

HDFC Bank has jumped nearly 4% (Rs 19) to Rs 519. While ICICI Bank is up a rupee at Rs 355, SBI is down a tad at Rs 593.

Gujarat Ambuja has scaled up nearly 2% (Rs 8) to Rs 433. While ACC is up a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 354, Grasim is up Rs 3 at Rs 1,286.

Cipla has added 1.80% (Rs 5) to Rs 269. While Ranbaxy is up Rs 5 at Rs 1,075, Dr. Reddy's is down a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 744.

Bharti (up Rs 6 or 2.87% to Rs 214) continues to trade with sharp gains. L&T has clocked a per cent gain (Rs 8) to Rs 925.

Hero Honda has slumped 5.32% (Rs 30) to Rs 528. While Bajaj has shed 2% (Rs 22) to Rs 1,090, Maruti has lost 3.35% (Rs 15) to Rs 423. Tata Motors is down 1.19% (Rs 6) at Rs 482.

Hindalco at Rs 1,245 (down Rs 15 or 1.16%), Tata Power at Rs 351 (down Rs 7 or 2% and Tisco at Rs 355 (down Rs 2) are trading on a subdued note.

Sail is leading the volume chart, with over 31.85 lakh shares traded on the BSE so far, followed by IDBI (21.80 lakh), Bharti (16.17 lakh), Reliance (14.75 lakh) and Ispat (13.66 lakh), respectively.