Sensex up nearly 150 pts @ 14:45 hrs

After a sharp upmove on the back of some hectic buying in several blue chip stocks, the Sensex has drifted down a bit once again with investors looking to exit a few counters at higher levels. At 14,191.79, around 60 points down from a high of 14,251.88, the Sensex is still up with a sharp gain of 148.39 points or 1.06%. The Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange is up by 39.20 points or 0.94% at 4204.90.

FMCG and automobile stocks remain the prominent gainers. Capital goods stocks have rallied after showing signs of weakness. Power, bank and information technology stocks are off their highs.

PSU stocks have declined sharply. Metal, realty and oil stocks are also seen struggling today. Pharma stocks exhibit a mixed trend. Buying remains highly stock specific in midcap and smallcap segments.

FMCG heavyweight ITC is up nearly 7% on sustained buying at the counter. Jaiprakash Associates has rallied 6.5% to Rs 205.50. Automobile stocks Hero Honda, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki are up by 5% - 5.8% now.

Bharti Airtel has gained over 4.5%. Grasim Industries, ACC, Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank and Wipro are up by 2.5% - 4.5%. BHEL, Tata Consultancy Services and Sun Pharmaceuticals are also up with strong gains. Reliance Infrastructure and HDFC Bank have gained modest ground in the positive territory.

Gujarat Petronet, Voltas, IVRCL Infrastructure, Marico, M&M Financial Services, Exide Industries, Biocon, Century Textiles, Torrent Power, RECL, GAIL India, United Spirits, Ambuja Cements, Jubilant Organosys and Godrej Consumer Products have posted impressive gains. link.....