Sensex ends up 166pts

The Sensex has ended (provisional) at 17,693, up 166 points.

The NSE Nifty closed (provisional) at 5,291, up 42 points.
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(Updated at 1429hrs)

The Sensex is still firm and is now at 17,667, up 138 points. The NSE Nifty is 37 points higher at 5,286.

Among the Sensex-30 stocks, TCS is the major gainer on the Sensex, up 3% at Rs 803. HDFC, Wipro and Tata Steel have gained 2.5% each at Rs 2,781, Rs 723 and Rs 647, respectively.

Tata Motors, Infosys, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Industries, Jaiprakash Asociates and ITC are some of the other major gainers on the BSE, up 1-2% each.

Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever have slipped 3% each to Rs 302 and Rs 231, respectively.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Tata Power and ONGC down 1-2% each.

The market breadth is positive, out of 2,824 shares traded, 2,124 have advanced and 624 have declined so far on the BSE.

Among the sectoral indices, IT index has advanced 2% to 5,340. The smallcap index has added 2% each to 8,681.