Sensex ends up 388 pts

Sensex ends (provisional) at 17,134 - up 388 points. Nifty ends up 117 points at 5,148.
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(Updated at 1434 hrs)

Markets have surged to the day's high on sustained buying in IT stocks. The Sensex, shrugged off global cues to open firm and touched a high of 17,028. The index is now up 265 points at 17,009. Nifty also crossed the 5,100 mark and is up 81 points at 5,115.

In Europe, bourses opened in the red but managed to recover. The DAX jumped 1.2% to 5,481. CAC and FTSE have gone up 0.5% each. Asian markets ended in green with Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite gaining 0.5% each. Nikkei caught up with Monday's losses and ended down 1.6% at 8,721.

BSE IT index has jumped 2.8% to 5,197 on a declining rupee. Bankex, metal, realty and auto indices advanced 1-2% each.

Reliance was the biggest contributor to the Sensex's upmove with around 51 points. The stock jumped 2.8% to Rs 844. Hindalco, SBI and HDFC gained 2-3% each.

IT shares jumped. Wipro added 3.5% to Rs 354. TCS and Infosys advanced 3% to Rs 1,048 and Rs 2,428, respectively.

Meanwhile, ONGC dropped 3% to Rs 261. BHEL and Maruti Suzuki remained weak and were down around 1% each.

BSE market breadth was positive. Out of 2,779 stocks traded, 1,760 advanced while 916 declined.