Sensex up 273pts; Larsen & Toubro zooms 8%

The Sensex is now up 273 points at 20,111.

The Nifty is up 98 points at 5999.

Larsen & Toubro has zoomed nearly 8% to Rs 4,579. BHEL and HDFC Bank have soared 4% each to Rs 2,725 and Rs 1,719, respectively.

Hindalco, ONGC, SBI and NTPC have surged around 2% each to Rs 201, Rs 1,274, Rs 2,110 and Rs 244, respectively.

ICICI Bank and Reliance Energy have advanced 1.8% each to Rs 1,280 and Rs 1,899, respectively. Tata Steel has gained 1.6% at Rs 920.

Bharti Airtel has plunged over 4% to Rs 963. Hindustan Unilever has slipped 1.8% to Rs 204, and ITC has declined 1.3% to Rs 177.

The market breadth is positive - out of 2,386 stocks traded so far, 1,436 have advanced, 883 have declined and 67 are unchanged.