Sensex up 436pts; ICICI, HDFC soar 7%

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 327 points at 17,921. The index touched a high of 18,185, but has now pared some gains and is up 436 points at 18,030.

The NSE Nifty has gained 111 points at 5,335.

ICICI Bank and HDFC have zoomed nearly 7% each to Rs 1,231 and Rs 2,699, respectively. Reliance Communications has soared 6% to Rs 651.

Hindustan Unilever has surged 5.5% to Rs 200, and Grasim has gained 4.7% at Rs 3,170.

ITC, BHEL and Bajaj Auto have rallied around 4% each to Rs 201, Rs 2,230 and Rs 2,300, respectively.

ONGC, Infosys, Ranbaxy and Satyam have advanced over 3% each to Rs 1,022, Rs 1,467, Rs 361 and Rs 405,  respectively.

ACC has moved up 2.5% to Rs 769. Mahindra & Mahindra and Reliance Energy are up around 2% each at Rs 647 and Rs 2,029, respectively.

Ambuja Cements has plunged nearly 3% to Rs 116, and Larsen & Toubro has dropped 1.7% to Rs 3,685.