Techies shine in a stagnant market

 The Sensex is now quoting at 17,823, down 29 points and the Nifty is 5,324, down 14 points.

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(Updated at 1309pm)

The markets have recovered considerably from the day's lows and have not looked back since. The credit goes largely to Infosys. The IT powerhouse has assumed leadership position and other IT stocks have merely toed the line. The Sensex is now quoting at 17,826, down 25 points and the Nifty is 5,324, down 14 points. The CNX IT is up 2.7% at 6129.

Infosys Technologies has vaulted by 3.1% at Rs 2768 to be the leading gainer on the Sensex. In the process, the stock recovered nearly 5% from the day's lows of Rs 2,635.

The IT bellwether gave a strong guidance in dollar terms, indicating robust outsourcing demand. The company projected a 16-18% growth in revenue between $5.57 billion and $5.67 billion for the current year. In rupee terms, it expects a 9-11% growth in consolidated revenue between Rs 24,796 and Rs 25,239 crore in FY11 over FY10.

The shine has expectedly rubbed on to the other IT stocks; TCS has strengthened by 2.8% to Rs 820 and Wipro has added 2.6% at Rs 721.

On the loser's side, Hero Honda has weakened by 4.1% at Rs 1999, Reliance Communications has shed 2.1% at Rs 172 and Sterlite has lost 1.8% at Rs 853. And index heavyweight RIL has inched lower by 0.6% at Rs 1118.

The market breadth is faily positive, out of 2,827 shares traded on the BSE, there are 1433 advancing stocks as against 1311 declines.