Sensex up 54pts; NTPC, BHEL up 2%

The Sensex is now up 54 points at 12,509.

NTPC and BHEL have surged over 2% each to Rs 151 and Rs 2,205, respectively.

Wipro, HLL and Infosys have advanced 1.5% each to Rs 526, Rs 199 and Rs 1,949, respectively.

Satyam, ITC and ONGC are up around 1% each at Rs 452, Rs 148 and Rs 836, respectively.

Cipla has slipped over 2% to Rs 221. HDFC has shed 1.7% to Rs 1,408.

SBI and Bajaj Auto are down 1.3% each at Rs 918 and Rs 2,270, respectively.

The market breadth is marginally negative - out of 1,963 stocks traded so far, 1,021 have declined, 877 have advanced and 65 are unchanged.