The market witnessed volatile trading session today. After opening 17 points lower at 6,462, the market-mood was extremely bearish in early trades as strong selling pressure in most of the counters dragged the index to a low of 6,439.
While buying remained stock-specific, the market thereafter was subdued till mid-noon trades as stocks moved in a negative, range-bound mode.
A strong wave of buying support led by tech stocks saw the index surge past the 6,500-mark to touch a high of 6,513 at the fag-end.
The Sensex finally signed off the session with a gain of 21 points at 6,499. The Nifty closed up a point at 1,992.
Infosys flared up 2% (Rs 44) to Rs 2,142. While Wipro added 1.10% (Rs 7) to Rs 665, Satyam was up Rs 2 at Rs 443.
SBI advanced 1.71% (Rs 11) to Rs 649. While ICICI Bank clocked a per cent gain (Rs 3) to Rs 397, HDFC Bank, however, ended Rs 3 lower at Rs 539.
L&T shot up 3.13% (Rs 33) to Rs 1,079. HPCL moved up 1.70% (Rs 5) to Rs 329, and BHEL gained 1.57% (Rs 13) to Rs 855. Reliance Energy, however, shed 1.54% (Rs 7) to Rs 476. Zee dropped 2.81% (Rs 4) to Rs 149.
Dr. Reddy's added 1.28% (Rs 9) to Rs 690, and Ranbaxy gained a per cent (Rs 10) to Rs 978. Cipla, however, slipped 1.30% (Rs 4) to Rs 273.
ONGC and Reliance lost a per cent each to Rs 848 (down Rs 9) and Rs 520 (down Rs 4), respectively. ITC (down Rs 6 to Rs 1,494), too, finished weak.
Hero Honda added 1.19% (Rs 7) to Rs 567. While Bajaj lost 1.20% (Rs 15) to Rs 1,212, Tata Motors declined a per cent (Rs 4) to Rs 432. Maruti was down a rupee at Rs 445.
Grasim, Gujarat Ambuja and ACC dipped a per cent each to Rs 1,123 (down Rs 7), Rs 440 (down Rs 3) and Rs 379 (down Rs 2), respectively.