Metal, realty buoy Sensex further

Further gains in metal and realty stocks have buoyed the Sensex to a high of 17,144 today. The Sensex is now up 347 points (2%) at 17,116.

The Nifty is up 112 points at 5,130.

Earlier in the day, Indian markets opened strong and surged as Asian peers showed good gains.

The BSE small-cap index has gained marginally more than the broader index. The small-cap sector is up 2.1% at 8,893.

Among the small-caps, Bhansali Engineers, Entegra, Tube Investment, Panoramic Universal and JMD Telefilms are the top gainers.

Sterlite has jumped 4.5% to Rs 746. Tata Steel and Hindalco have gained 4% each at Rs 582 and Rs 169, respectively.

Reliance Infrastructure has added 4% to Rs 1016. Mahindra & Mahindra has moved up 3.7% to Rs 543. Tata motors has surged 3.4% to Rs 789.

Market hevayweight, Reliance Industries has advanced 3.6% to Rs 1071.

ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI and IT stocks - Wipro, TCS and Infosys have added 1-3% each.

Other gainers in the Sensex include ACC, Jaiprakash Asoociation, Grasim, DLF, Tata Power, BHEL and Larsen & Toubro.

However, Cipla has tumbled 5.5% to Rs 323. Reliance Communications has dropped 1.5% to Rs 151.

The BSE market breadth is positive. Out of 2,779 stocks traded, 2,122 have advanced while 593 have declined.