Sensex up 73pts; Ranbaxy soars 7%

The Sensex is now up 73 points at 9,782. Earlier in the day, the index opened 37 points higher at 9,746, but soon slipped into red to a low of 9,546.

Ranbaxy has soared nearly 7% to Rs 177. HDFC has surged 5.7% to Rs 1,492.

DLF has rallied 3.5% to Rs 173. Reliance Communications has gained 3% at Rs 180.

Tata Power has moved up 2.8% to Rs 787. ONGC and Reliance Infrastructure have advanced nearly 2% each to Rs 794 and Rs 524, respectively.

ACC, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys and ICICI Bank are up around 1.5% each.

Sun Pharma have slumped nearly 4% to Rs 1,069. Hindustan Unilever has tumbled nearly 3% to Rs 231.

Tata Motors has dropped 2.3% to Rs 176, and Bharti Airtel has shed 2% at Rs 613.

NTPC and Grasim have slipped 1.8% each to Rs 177 and Rs 1,549, respectively.

BHEL and ITC are down over 1% each at Rs 1,484 and Rs 183, respectively.

The market breadth is extremely positive - out of 2,188 stocks traded so far, 1,524 have advanced, 600 have declined and 64 are unchanged.