Realty, metal stocks propel Sensex

The Sensex opened 74 points higher at 9,078. The index after moving ahead, pared gains and touched a low of 9,054 in noon trades. Steady buying, thereafter, mainly in realty and metal stocks helped the index bounce back to higher levels. The Sensex touched a high of 9,271 - up 217 points from the day's low - in late trades. The index finally settled with a gain of 253 points at 9,257. The BSE Realty index soared 6.3% to 1,644, and the Metal index surged 4.4% to 4,880. The Bankex and the Oil & Gas index were up nearly 4% each at 4,790 and 6,089, respectively. The market breadth was positive - out of 2,528 stocks traded, 1,406 advanced and 1,023 declined, today.