Sensex flat in early noon trades, breadth fairly -ve

The Sensex after rebounding into green, rallied to high of 8,265. The idex, however, has slipped back into red and is now down 20 points at 8,178.

Earlier in the day, the index opened 94 points lower at 8,104, and soon touched a low of 8,047.

HDFC and Larsen & Toubro have surged over 2% each to Rs 1,176 and Rs 581, respectively.

HDFC Bank has gained nearly 2% at Rs 816. Reliance Communications has moved up 1.7% to Rs 138.

Jaiprakash Associates and ICICI Bank have advanced 1.5% each to Rs 68 and Rs 274, respectively.

Mahindra & Mahindra, TCS, Infosys, SBI and BHEL are the other major gainers.

Ranbaxy has slumped over 4% to Rs 138. Maruti and ITC have tumbled nearly 3% each to Rs 648 and Rs 163, respectively.

Hindustan Unilever has dropped 2% to Rs 225. DLF, ACC and Tata Motors are down around 1.5% each at Rs 145, Rs 521 and Rs 137, respectively.

The market breadth is fairly negative - out of 2,141 stocks traded, 1,346 declined, 710 advanced and the rest are unchanged.