Sensex sheds 58 pts; Cipla up 3%

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of five points at 6,815, and touched a high of 6,823 in early deals. Selling commenced soon after, and the index dipped to a low of 6,730 - a drop of 93 points from the intra-day high - by late noon. The Sensex finally closed with a loss of 58 points at 6,752.

While 25 scrips declined with a volume of 91 lakh shares for Rs 482 crore, five advanced with a volume of 37 lakh shares for Rs 179 crore.

Heavyweights finished on a weak note. HLL dropped 2% (Rs 3) to Rs 136. Reliance declined 1.4% (Rs 8) to Rs 570. Infosys slipped more than a per cent (Rs 22) to Rs 2,205. SBI was down Rs 3 at Rs 731. ITC, however, was up Rs 5 at Rs 1,338. ONGC was up Rs 2 at Rs 912.

Bajaj dropped 1.8% (Rs 20) to Rs 1,090. Hero Honda, Maruti and Tata Motors also finished with losses.

Bharti was down 2.6% (Rs 6) at Rs 216. Reliance Energy dropped 3% (Rs 17) to Rs 549. HDFC, HDFC Bank, Wipro, Satyam and Hindalco also declined.

Pharma scrips bucked the downtrend, and finished with gains. Cipla advanced nearly 3% (Rs 8) to Rs 283. Dr. Reddy's was up 1.6% (Rs 12) at Rs 753.

Tisco was firm for the second day, and moved up more than a per cent (Rs 5) to Rs 443.