Sensex surges 490pts; breadth fairly +ve

The Sensex is now up 490 points at 16,159.

ONGC has soared 6% to Rs 902. Maruti and HDFC Bank have zoomed 5.7% each to Rs 926 and Rs 1,299, respectively.

HDFC has surged 5% to Rs 2,290. Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors have rallied 4.5% each to Rs 740 and Rs 727, respectively.

SBI has advanced over 4% to Rs 1,765. ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel have added 3.7% each to Rs 960 and Rs 863, respectively.

Bajaj Auto, Reliance Communications, Tata Steel, Infosys, Reliance and ACC are the other major gainers.

The market breadth is fairly positive - out of 2,692 stocks traded so far, 1,766 have advanced, 854 have declined and 72 are unchanged.