Sensex up 155pts; REL soars more than 7%

The Sensex is now up 155 points at 17,076.

The index opened with a positive gap of 139 points at 17,060, and soon surged to a high of 17,158.

REL has rallied 7.09% to Rs 1,099. Infosys has advanced nearly 4% to Rs 968 and Rs 1,893.

Cipla, ACC and ONGC are all up more than 3% at Rs 176.25, Rs 1,191.25 and Rs 965 respectively.

Satyam has jumped nearly 3% to Rs 443.95. Tata Steel, M&M, TCS and ITC are the other gainers.

Hindustan Unilever has shed more than 1% to Rs 222. Ambuja Cements and Bharti-Airtel are down nearly 1% each.

The NSE Nifty today crossed the 5000-mark for the first time ever. It is now up 42 points at 4982.