Sensex up 540pts; breadth extremely +ve

The Sensex is now up 540 points at 18,154.

BHEL, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Energy and Larsen & Toubro have zoomed over 6% each to Rs 2,187, Rs 986, Rs 1,455 and Rs 3,289, respectively.

NTPC has soared 5% to Rs 210. Reliance and Hindalco have surged over 4% each to Rs 2,516 and Rs 186, respectively.

ACC, HDFC Bank, Reliance Communications and SBI have rallied 3.3% each to Rs 1,052, Rs 1,418, Rs 744 and Rs 1,769, respectively.

Tata Steel, Hindustan Unilever and Satyam are up over 3% each at Rs 864, Rs 213 and Rs 462, respectively.

The market breadth is extremely positive - out of 2,525 stocks traded so far, 1,932 have advanced, 541 have declined and 52 are unchanged.