Sensex up 55pts; Pratibha logs huge volume

The Sensex is again closing in on the 11,000-mark and is now up 55 points at 10,996.

BHEL has rallied 3.3% to Rs 2,178. Hero Honda has gained 2.6% at Rs 933, and Cipla has moved up 2.4% to Rs 603.

NTPC has surged nearly 2% to Rs 140.

HDFC has slipped 1.8% to Rs 1,314, and HDFC Bank has declined 1% to Rs 757.

The market breadth is fairly positive. Out of 1,906 stocks traded so far, 1,106 have moved up, 737 have slipped and 63 are unchanged.

Pratibha tops the value chart with a turnover of Rs 109.64 crore followed by Reliance Communication Ventures (Rs 321 crore), Debutant Nitco (Rs 71.95 crore), BL Kashyap (Rs 65.56 crore) and Mahindra & Mahindra Financial (Rs 52.14 crore).

Newly listed Nitco Tiles leads the volume chart with trades of around 42.38 lakh shares followed by Pratibha (40.35 lakh), Reliance Natural Resources (34 lakh), Reliance Communication Ventures (24.84 lakh) and Mahindra & Mahindra Financial (21.22 lakh).