Sensex steady; breadth fairly +ve

The Sensex opened 58 points higher at 9,359, and touched a high of 9,432 in early morning trades. The index is now up 78 points at 9,379.

Jaiprakash Associates has soared 4.5% to Rs 72. Tata Steel and HDFC have surged 4% each to Rs 194 and Rs 1,468, respectively.

Hindalco and Sterlite have rallied over 3% each to Rs 46 and Rs 273, respectively.

ONGC and Reliance Infrastructure have moved up 2.3% each to Rs 697 and Rs 553, respectively.

Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank are up around 1.5% each at Rs 140, Rs 649, Rs 912 and Rs 413, respectively.

Mahindra & Mahindra and Grasim have plunged over 2% each to Rs 268 and Rs 1,384, respectively.

Wipro has dropped nearly 2% to Rs 220, and ITC is down 1.3% at Rs 180.

The market breadth is fairly positive - out of 2,115 stocks traded so far, 1,265 have advanced, 763 have declined and the rest are unchanged.