Sensex up 40 pts

After rallying past the 6,260 levels in mid-morning trades, the market has moved into a range-bound mode on steady buying in most of the old and new economy stocks.

The Sensex, as a result, is now up 40 points at 6,257. The Nifty, too, is largely unchanged from its earlier gains, and is now up 12 points at 1,932.

Infosys has scaled up 1.42% (Rs 23) to Rs 1,925. Wipro and Satyam are trading with marginal gains at Rs 630 and Rs 408, respectively.

ONGC has moved up 1.22% (Rs 10) to Rs 835. While HLL has gained 1.69% (Rs 2) to Rs 135, ITC is up Rs 7 at Rs 1,421. Reliance is up a rupee at Rs 542.

Bharti has advanced 2.39% (Rs 5) to Rs 216, while L&T has gained 1.72% (Rs 17) to Rs 984. HPCL at Rs 319 (up Rs 5 or 1.48%), Reliance Energy at Rs 489 (up Rs 6 or 1.24%) and Tisco at Rs 347 (up Rs 3) are trading with steady gains.

SBI and ICICI Bank are trading with steady gains at Rs 601 and Rs 366, respectively. HDFC Bank, however, is still marginally down at Rs 536.

Ranbaxy has flared up 3.57% (Rs 33) to Rs 945. While Dr. Reddy's is up a per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 643, Cipla is subdued with a per cent loss (Rs 2) at Rs 263.

Tata Motors has shed 1.43% (Rs 6) to Rs 418. Other auto stocks, too, are largely weak.