Sensex ends up 327pts

The Sensex has ended (provisional) at 16,491 - up 327 points.

The Nifty ended (provisional) at 4,930 - up 100 points.
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(Updated at 1506 hrs)

The Sensex is now up 317 points at 16,481 and the Nifty has added 98 points at 4928.

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(Updated at 1505pm)

The markets have come off marginally from the day's high followed subdued cues from the European markets. The Sensex is now up 323 points at 16,486, as against the day's high of 16,553.

Meanwhile, the European markets have opened on a flat note. The FTSE 100 is down five points at 5,2769. The CAC is down three points at 3,809, and the DAX is up two points at 5,712.

The BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices continue to underperform the Sensex today. While the Mid-cap index is up 1.4%, the Small-cap index is up 1.3% as against a 2% rise in the Sensex.

The market breadth is extremely positive with gainers outpacing the losers in 2:1 ratio - out of 2,849 stocks traded so far, 1,867 have advanced and 904 have declined.

Sterlite and Tata Steel continue to lead the gainers list, with the former up 5.3% at Rs 775, and the latter up 4.6% at Rs 599.

HDFC, Larsen & Toubro and Hero Honda have rallied around 3.5% each to Rs 2,506, Rs 1,447 and Rs 1,622, respectively.

Hindalco and Grasim have moved up 2% each to Rs 156 and Rs 2,680, respectively.

DLF, ICICI Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra are the other prominent gainers.

There are no losers among the Sensex stocks so far.