A mixed trend prevailed in the first half of the trading session today. After opening on a flat note at 6,599, the index switched between positive and negative zones before dipping to a low of 6,588 on selective selling pressure.
A steady recovery pulled the markets into the green in afternoon trades, with the index soaring to a high of 6,685 on near across-the-board buying towards the fag-end of the trading session.
The Sensex finally settled the session with a surge of 73 points at 6,671. The Nifty, too, rallied sharply to end 31 points higher at 2,075.
ONGC jumped 2% (Rs 18) to Rs 902. While ITC clocked a per cent gain (Rs 17) to Rs 1,531, HLL gained 1.78% (Rs 2) to Rs 132.
Wipro vaulted 4.24% (Rs 29) to Rs 716, and Infosys advanced 1.31% (Rs 28) to Rs 2,201. Satyam, however, lost a per cent (Rs 4) to Rs 449.
BHEL, on reports of possible 10% stake sale by govt, advanced 4.56% (Rs 40) to Rs 910. Bharti jumped 3.23% (Rs 7) to Rs 227, and HDFC moved up 1.92% (Rs 15) to Rs 771. While Tata Power flared up 3.20% (Rs 12) to Rs 385, L&T surged 2% (Rs 22) to Rs 1,102. HPCL, however, lost 1.65% (Rs 6) to Rs 331.
Ranbaxy perked up 2.65% (Rs 28) to Rs 1,068. While Dr. Reddy's gained 2.55% (Rs 18) to Rs 722, Cipla was up 1.12% (Rs 3) at Rs 285.
Hero Honda added 2.51% (Rs 14) to Rs 593. Bajaj was up a per cent (Rs 7) at Rs 1,220, while Tata Motors added 1.16% (Rs 5) to Rs 449.
HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank dropped nearly 2% each to Rs 531 (down Rs 9) and Rs 392 (down Rs 7), respectively. SBI, however, was up a per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 683.