Sensex up 40 pts, BHEL zooms 4%

Driven by strong buying in select heavyweights, bank and other old economy stocks, the market has registered further gains in early noon trades. The Sensex, which touched a high of 6,540, is now up 40 points at 6,533, while the Nifty has added nine points to 2,045.

Reliance has notched up 2.57% gains (Rs 14) to Rs 560. ITC has pared gains to Rs 1,351 - up Rs 7.

SBI has added 1.16% (Rs 8) to Rs 665. ICICI Bank is unchanged with a steady gain of 1.53% (Rs 6) at Rs 399, while HDFC Bank is down a rupee at Rs 543.

HPCL has advanced 3.22% (Rs 10) to Rs 316, and Satyam is up 1.35% (Rs 5) at Rs 414.

BHEL has moved up 4.10% (Rs 31) to Rs 799. While Hindalco has scaled up 1.63% (Rs 21) to Rs 1,315, L&T has jumped 2.40% (Rs 24) to Rs 1,019.

Bharti has added 1.62% (Rs 3) to Rs 210.

Cipla has gained 1.82% (Rs 5) to Rs 259, and Dr. Reddy's is up a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 744. Ranbaxy, however, is trading lower by Rs 5 at Rs 999.

ONGC is down a per cent (Rs 9) at Rs 874. Infosys (down Rs 8 to Rs 2,245) and Wipro (down Rs 6 to Rs 665) are displaying a subdued trend.

Bajaj (down Rs 13 to Rs 1,068) is still languishing in negative territory. While Hero Honda is down Rs 3 at Rs 546, Tata Motors has gained 1.96% (Rs 8) to Rs 422.