Sensex steady; Sterlite, Hindalco surge 4%

The Sensex is now up 80 points at 14,324.

Sterlite has surged nearly 4% to Rs 624, and Hindalco has rallied 3.6% to Rs 134.

Hindustan Unilever has advanced over 3% to Rs 244. Reliance Infrastructure has gained 2% at Rs 973.

HDFC Bank, Reliance Communications and Tata Power have moved up over 1.5% each to Rs 1,184, Rs 404 and Rs 1,039, respectively.

Infosys and ACC have added 1.3% each to Rs 1,687 and Rs 556, respectively.

Tata Motors, Reliance and Mahindra & Mahindra are up over 1% each at Rs 423, Rs 2,238 and Rs 546, respectively.

Satyam has plunged 3.6% to Rs 395. NTPC has dropped 3% to Rs 168.

Grasim has slipped nearly 2% to Rs 1,928. Wipro and Larsen & Toubro have shed 1.6% each at Rs 415 and Rs 2,586, respectively.

The market breadth is negative - out of 2,590 stocks traded so far, 1,402 have declined, 1,066 have advanced and 122 are unchanged.