Markets near day's high

The Sensex after opening flat dipped to a low of 17,505. The index, thereafter, surged 174 points to a high of 17,679. The index is now up 100 points at 17,655.

The Nifty is up 24 point at 5,275.

The BSE Bankex is up 1.2% at 10,044. However, the realty, metal and power indices are trading in red.

HDFC has gained 2.4% at Rs 2,582. Other banking stocks have jumped as well. HDFC Bank has added 2% to rs 1,724. ICICI Bank and SBI have movd up 1.4% each to Rs 853 and Rsc 802, respectively.

Auto stocks are up. Hero Honda has jumped 1.3% to Rs 1,645 and Mahindra & Mahindra has advanced 1% to Rs 1,169.

Other gainers include, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Wipro, BHEL and Jaiprakash Associates. TCS has gained 1% on stellar Q3 numebrs.

Among other stocks, EIL has jumped 7% on plans of divestments.

However, Tata Steel has slipped 1.2% to Rs 637. DLF, Tata Power and Sterlite are also down around 1% each.

The market breadth is positive on the BSE. Around 65% have advanced while 32% have declined out of a total of 2,688 stocks traded.