Sensex ends up 251pts

The Sensex has finally ended (provisional) at 17,234, up 251 points.

The NSE Nifty has ended (provisional) at 5,149, up 83 points.
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(Updated at 1428hrs)

The Sensex touched a high of 17,210 owing to buying in the metal and oil & gas stocks. The index is now at 17,168, up 187 points. The NSE Nifty is at 5,128, up 62 points.

The BSE consumer durables has led the sectoral indices, up 3%, followed by metal and oil & gas indices, up over 1.5% each.

Bharti Airtel has advanced 3% to Rs 325 and Reliance has added 2.5% at Rs 1,082, respectively.

Hindalco and Tata Steel have added 2% each at Rs 146 and Rs 568, respectively.

Reliance Infratsructure, HDFC Bank, HUL, DLF, ICICI Bank, Sterlite and HDFC are up over 1% each.

SBI and Reliance Communications are down below 0.5% each at Rs 2m305 and Rs 175, respectively.

The market breadth is positive, out of 2,826 shares traded, 1,708 have advanced and 1,026 have declined so far on the BSE.