Sensex firm in late morning trades; breadth fairly +ve

Mirroring positive cues from the global markets, the Sensex opened with a positive gap of 137 points at 8,481. The index, since then, has displayed strength and is now up 244 points at 8,588.

Realty and banking stocks continue to lead the upmove. The BSE Realty index has surged 5.7% to 1,384, and the Bankex has gained 4.7% at 3,931.

DLF has zoomed nearly 8% to Rs 148. ICICI Bank has soared 7.3% to Rs 305.

Tata Motors, HDFC and Sterlite have surged over 5% each to Rs 154, Rs 1,348 and Rs 275, respectively.

Tata Steel has rallied nearly 5% to Rs 163. Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Communications have gained around 4.5% each at Rs 462 and Rs 144, respectively.

Jaiprakash Associates and Infosys have moved up nearly 4% each to Rs 69 and Rs 1,275, respectively.

Mahindra & Mahindra and SBI have advanced 3.7% each to Rs 341 and Rs 944, respectively. Tata Power has added 3.4% to Rs 628.

NTPC, however, has slipped over 1% to Rs 172.

The market breadth is fairly positive - out of 1,960 stocks traded so far, 1,262 have advanced, 617 have declined and the rest are unchanged.