Sensex up 63pts; Ranbaxy gains 3%

The Sensex is now up 63 points at 18,723.

The NSE Nifty is up 36 points at 5,500.

NTPC has soared nearly 5% to Rs 225. Ranbaxy has surged nearly 3% to Rs 384.

ONGC and HDFC have advanced over 2% each to Rs 1,079 and Rs 3,080, respectively.

Bharti Airtel, Cipla, ACC and Hindalco are up around 1.5% each at Rs 936, Rs 203, Rs 779 and Rs 181, respectively.

Tata Motors has dropped 2.3% to Rs 752.

Bajaj Auto, TCS, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti have slipped nearly 2% each to Rs 2,413, Rs 958, Rs 880 and Rs 683, respectively.

Wipro and SBI have shed 1.5% each at Rs 457 and Rs 2,237, respectively.

Infosys, HDFC Bank and Grasim are down 1.3% each at Rs 1,620, Rs 1,528 and Rs 2,990, respectively.

Out of 2,804 stocks traded so far, 1,842 have advanced, 905 have declined and 57 are unchanged.