Upmove intact; Tata Motors, HDFC up 4%

After touching a high of 17,971, the markets have retained its firmness. The Sensex is now at 17, 949, up 235 points. The NSE Nifty is 63 points higher at 5,367.

Among the Sensex-30 stocks, Tata Motors and HDFC have advanced 4% each to Rs 808 and Rs 2,832, respectively.

BHEL, Hero Honda, HDFC Bank, Jaiprakash Associates and Reliance Communication have added 2-3% each on the BSE.

The other major gainers are Sterlite Industries, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and Hindalco, up over 1.5% each.

Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever are down 1% each at Rs 309 and Rs 221, respectively.

The market breadth is positive, out of 2,950 shares traded, 1,926 have added and 928 have declined so far on the BSE.

The midcap and the smallcap indices are up 1% each on the BSE.

All the sectoral indices are still moving in the green, the bankex and the auto indices are up 1.5% each at 10,905 and 7,824, respectively.

 Axis Bank is up around 3%  on the banking index. HDFC Bank, Allahabad Bank and ICICI Bank are up over 1.5% each.