Sensex, Nifty remain positive

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have advanced almost a percent each at 11,380 and 11,928, respectively.The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have advanced almost a percent each at 11,380 and 11,928, respectively.

The market continues to trade with a positive bias, on the back of sustained buying in bank, power, realty and consumer durables shares ahead of RBI policy.

So far, the key headline indices have touched an intra-day high at 28,222 and 8,562, respectively.

As of 1035 hrs, the BSE Sensex is up 81 points at 28,167 and the NSE Nifty has added 19 points at 8,551.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have advanced almost a percent each at 11,380 and 11,928, respectively.

Sectorwise, the BSE Consumer Durables index has spurted 1.4 percent at 11,243. The Power, Realty and Bankex indices have gained over a percent each.

On the other hand, the BSE Metal index has declined 0.5 percent at 8,622. The IT, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods indices are also down 0.2-0.3 percent each.

The breadth is extremely positive in morning deals - out of 2,291 stocks traded on the BSE so far 1,545 stocks have advanced, while 682 stocks have declined.

SBI is the top Sensex gainer - up over 3.5 percent to Rs. 280. Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki jumped over 2 percent each at Rs. 393 and Rs. 4,427, respectively.

ICICI Bank, Reliance, Axis Bank and BHEL are the other prominent gainers.

On the flipside, Hero MotoCorp slipped over 2 percent at Rs. 2,615, on the back of fall in monthly sales. Larsen & Toubro has dropped almost 2 percent at Rs. 1,756.

Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra and Coal India have shed 1.5 percent each at Rs. 906, Rs 1,340 and Rs. 433, respectively.