Sensex steady; HDFC Bank up 4%

The Sensex continues its firm movement and is now at 17,680, up 126 points.

The NSE Nifty is at 5,282, up 30 points.

HDFC Bank has advanced 4% to Rs 1,755. HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti are up above 2% each at Rs 2,583, Rs 1,179 and Rs 1,445, respectively.

The other major gainers on the Sensex are ICICI Bank. Hero Honda, Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors, up 1.5% each.

Tata Steel, DLF and Grasim Industries are down 1.5% each at Rs 635, Rs 381 and Rs 2,812, respectively.

The market breadth continues to be positive, out of 2,845 shares traded, 1,795 have advanced and 975 have declined so far on the BSE.

Among the sectoral indices, bankex indeex has advanced 2% at 10,146.