Sensex firm; IT index up 2%

Buying in the IT stocks has helped the Sensex to touch a high of 17,292. The index is now at 17,279, up 93 points.

The NSE Nifty is at 5,156, up 29 points.

The BSE IT index leads the list of gainers, up 1.5% at 4,847 .

Wipro and Bhararti Airtel have advanced 2% each to Rs 653 and Rs 313, respectively.

Hindalco, Infosys, Reliance Infrastructure and Tata Motors have soared over 1.5% each to Rs 149, Rs 2,416, Rs 1,075 and Rs 716, respectively.

Hindustan Unilever, Grasim Industries, HDFC and TCS are up 1% each.

Maruti Suzuki and ONGC has slipped 1% each to Rs 1,620 and Rs 1,189, respectively.

Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank and Hero Honda are the other marginal losers on the BSE.

The market breadth is fairly positive, out of 2,645 shares traded, 1,627 have advanced and 947 have declined so far on the BSE.