Sensex nears positive zone; breadth extremely +ve

The Sensex has wiped out almost all its losses, and is now down 26 points at 10,509. Earlier in the day, the index opened with a negative gap of 251 points at 10,284, and touched a low of 10,172 - down 363 points from the previous close.

Hindalco has plunged over 4% to Rs 57. Mahindra & Mahindra has slumped 3.7% to Rs 449, and Sterlite has shed 3.4% at Rs 373.

ICICI Bank and BHEL have dropped 3% each to Rs 364 and Rs 1,487, respectively.

Infosys has slipped 2.8% to Rs 1,375. SBI and Bharti Airtel have declined 2.5% each to Rs 1,101 and Rs 643, respectively.

DLF, ONGC and Reliance Communications are down over 2% each.

Tata Motors has zoomed 5.5% to Rs 221. Hindustan Unilever has surged 3.5% to Rs 235.

Larsen & Toubro and Sun Pharma have rallied nearly 3% each to Rs 793 and Rs 1,098, respectively.

Wipro and NTPC have moved up 1.7% each to Rs 274 and Rs 187, respectively.

The market breadth is extremely positive - out of 2,437 stocks traded so far, 1,791 have advanced, 574 have declined and the are unchanged.