Sensex marginally down; breadth fairly +ve

The Sensex after a marginally (24 points) positive start at 9,679, had touched a high of 9,746 in early trades, The index, therefter, slipped to a low of 9,560. The index is now down 23 points at 9,632.

Jaiprakash Associates has zoomed 10.5% to Rs 83. Stelite has soared 7.3% to Rs 292.

Reliance Communications has surged nearly 6% to Rs 241. Tata Steel has rallied 4% to Rs 170, and ICICI Bank has gained 3.6% at Rs 415.

ACC has moved up 3.3% to Rs 492. Tata Steel has added 2.7% to Rs 223.

SBI and Mahindra & Mahindra are up nearly 2% each at Rs 1,211 and Rs 292, respectively.

Satyam has slumped 6% to Rs 222. TCS and Wipro have plunged over 4% each to Rs 519 and Rs 251, respectively.

NTPC has tumbled 2.5% to Rs 165. Infosys and Hindustan Unilever have shed over 2% each to Rs 1,147 and Rs 240, respectively.

BHEL and Hindalco have slipped 1.7% each to Rs 1,388 and Rs 53, respectively.

The market breadth is fairly positive - out of 2,235 stocks traded so far, 1,389 have advanced, 752 have declined and the rest are unchanged.