Sensex firm, up around 230pts; HDFC Bank soars 9%

The Sensex once again continues to display strength and is now up 229 points at 9,654.  Banking and realty stocks continue to lead the upmove.

The BSE Bankex has soared nearly 6% to 4,578, and the Realty index has surged over 5% to 1,660.

HDFC Bank has zoomed 8.7% to Rs 962, and ICICI Bank has soared nearly 6% to Rs 367.

DLF and Mahindra & Mahindra have surged nearly 5% each to Rs 175 and Rs 386, respectively. SBI has rallied over 4% to Rs 1,066.

Bharti Airtel, Wipro and HDFC have moved up around 3.5% each to Rs 614, Rs 247 and Rs 1,580, respectively.

BHEL and Grasim are up around 3% each at Rs 1,458 and Rs 1,568, respectively.

However, Hindalco, ACC and Sun Pharma have slipped over 1% each to Rs 51, Rs 552 and Rs 1,071, respectively.

The market breadth is fairly positive - out of 2,462 stocks traded so far, 1,369 have advanced, 1,012 have declined and the rest are unchanged.