Markets pare gains

The Sensex is quoting at 16,457, higher by 48 points and the Nifty is at 4,932, up 13 points.
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(Updated at 1423pm)

The Sensex after touching a high of 16,618, has pared some of its gains and is now up 121 points at 16,530.

The Nifty is up 34 points at 4,954.

The BSE Oil & Gas index has moved up nearly 2% to 9730, while the Realty index has slipped over 1.5% to 3063.

The market breadth is almost neutral - out of 2,850 stocks traded so far, 1,393 have declined and 1,349 have advanced.

ONGC continues to rule firm, the stock is now up nearly 9% at Rs 1,118.

SBI has rallied nearly 2% to Rs 2,255. Wipro, Sterlite and Hindustan Unilever have advanced 1.5% each to Rs 659, Rs 646 and Rs 237, respectively.

NTPC, TCS, ITC and ICICI Bank are the other prominent gainers.

Jaiprakash Associates has shed 2.5% at Rs 1,118. DLF and Grasim too have slipped nearly 2% each to Rs 274 and Rs 2,532, respectively.