Sensex up 173pts; Bharti, REL slip

The Sensex is now up 173 points at 12,377.

HDFC Bank has rallied over 4% to Rs 930. Infosys has surged 3.5% to Rs 1,867.

Reliance Communications has gained 2.8% at Rs 349. Grasim and Gujarat Ambuja have added 2.6% each to Rs 2,557 and Rs 120, respectively. SBI has advanced 2.4% to Rs 1,040.

Wipro, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro are up over 2% each. Cipla, Satyam, ICICI Bank and TCS are the other major gainers.

For the first time in the day, two index stocks have slipped into the negative zone. Bharti Airtel and Reliance Energy have slipped into red.

Out of 2,525 stocks traded so far, 1,875 have advanced, 587 have declined and the rest are unchanged.