Firm trend prevails

The Sensex after having touched a high of 17,121 in opening trades, has continued to displaying firm trend and is now up 119 points at 17,077.

The NSE Nifty is up 37 points at 5,064.

Sterlite continues to lead the Sensex gainers list with a gain of nearly 5% at Rs 810. BHEL has surged 3.7% to Rs 2,506.

Hindalco and Jaiprakash Associates have also rallied nearly 3% each to Rs 129 and Rs 237, respectively.

Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro and HDFC Bank have gained 2.6% each at Rs 524, Rs 1,725 and Rs 1,702, respectively.

Tata Motors and Reliance Infrastructure are up around 2% each.

IT stocks are witnessing selling pressure in the backdrop of a rising rupee. The Indian currency has firmed to a fresh 12-month high at 46.77/$. Infosys has dropped 2.7% to Rs 2,248. TCS and Wipro have slipped around 2.5% each to Rs 598 and Rs 585, respectively.

Maruti has shed 1.7% at Rs 1,570, and Hindustan Unilever is down 1% at Rs 279.

The market breadth is fairly positive - out of 2,494 stocks traded so far, 1,774 have advanced, 642 have declined and the rest are unchanged.