Sensex up 44pts; cement stock rally

The Sensex has bounced into the positive zone and is now up 44 points at 10,553.

The cement stocks are witnessing aggressive buying. Gujarat Ambuja has soared nearly 7% to Rs 98.40. ACC has surged 4.3% to Rs 744, and Grasim is up 4% at Rs 1,880.

SBI and Dr.Reddy's have advanced nearly 2% each to Rs 904 and Rs 1,327, respectively.

ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Infosys, Satyam and NTPC have advanced over 1% each to Rs 599, Rs 450, Rs 2,832, Rs 786 and Rs 136, respectively.

Bharti Tele and Ranbaxy have declined 3% each to Rs 380 and Rs 419, respectively.

Hero Honda has slipped over 2% to Rs 881. Maruti is down nearly 2% at Rs 867.

Cipla and HDFC are down 1.5% each at Rs 576 and Rs 1,273, respectively.

Out of 2,544 stocks traded so far, 1,488 have declined, 991 have advanced and the rest are unchanged.