Sensex hovers around 18000; Reliance, ICICI, L&T gain 1%

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trying to hold the 18,000 level amid choppy trade. The upmove in Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, L&T and SBI counterbalanced the weakness in HDFC pack, metals stocks, HDFC, Tata Motors and ITC.

The BSE benchmark moved up 31 points to 18,030.99 and the NSE benchmark went up 3.65 points to 5,434.65.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries and state-run oil & gas producer ONGC gained 1% and 1.4%, respectively.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank rose over 1% while its rival State Bank of India was up 0.4%.

Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro climbed over 1%; state-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL rebounded with 1.75% gains after falling in previous sessions on concerns over order book.

Software services exporters TCS and Wipro were up 0.6-1% while their rival Infosys was flat.

Two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp rallied 2% and its rival Bajaj Auto was up 1.4%. Commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors and utility vehicle major M&M fell 0.4% each.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel topped the selling list with 1.8% losses. Housing finance company HDFC was down over 1%.

Cigarette major ITC and private sector lender HDFC Bank declined over 0.3%. Drug producer Cipla lost more than 1%.

Asian markets remained mixed ahead of Federal Reserve's policy meeting that will be come out with conclusion at 11:45 hours IST.