Sensex up 96pts; Reliance gains 5%

The Sensex is now up 96 points at 12,456.

Reliance has soared over 5% to Rs 1,156. ONGC is up over 1% at Rs 1,380.

HDFC has rallied 3% to Rs 1,324. Hero Honda has gained nearly 2% at Rs 874, and Gujarat Ambuja is up 1% at Rs 119.

Satyam and TCS are also up 1% each at Rs 783 and Rs 2,025, respectively.

NTPC has dropped 1.6% to Rs 130. HLL and HDFC Bank are down 1.3% each at Rs 281 and Rs 867, respectively.

Out of 2,608 stocks traded so far, 1,684 have advanced, 876 have declined and the rest are unchanged.

Reliance leads the value chart with a turnover of Rs 273.60 crore followed by ONGC (Rs 226.93 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 112.95 crore), VSNL (Rs 85.28 crore) and Mahindra & Mahindra (Rs 72.83 crore).

Reliance Energy Ventures continues to top the volume chart with trades of around 70 lakh shares followed by Reliance Natural Resources (49 lakh), Himachal Futuristic (45 lakh), G V Films (44.85 lakh) and Mercator Lines (40.26 lakh).