Nifty crosses 5,000

Markets have extended gains. The Sensex has touched a high of 16,747 - up 317 points.

The Nifty has crossed the 5,000 mark and is now up 89 points at 5,012.
___________________________________________________
(Updated at 1303 hrs)

The Sensex continues to exhibit firm movement and is now at 16,680, up 250 points, The NSE Nifty is hovering near the 5,000 mark and is now at 4,990, up 68 points.

Tata Motors has soared 10% to Rs 779. Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra and ACC have added 4% each at Rs 598, Rs 1,049 and Rs 959, respectively.

ACC, Sterlite Industries, BHEL and Hindalco have advanced 3-4% each.

The other prominent gainers are ICICI Bank, ITC, Maruti, Bhati Airtel and Jaiprakash Associates are up 2-3% each.

DLF on the other hand has slipped 2% to Rs 291 and Reliance Infrastructure is down 1.5%, respectively.

The market breadth is positive, out of 2,767 shares traded, 1,936 have advanced and 752 have declined so far on the BSE.

Among the sectoral indices, auto index continues to lead the group, up 4%. The metal and bankex indices have advanced 2-3% each.

The realty index on the other hand is down 1% at 3,206.