The Sensex opened with a gain of 13 points at 5,199, but soon slipped from the 5,200 levels to touch a low of 5,178 on weakness in most of the sectors.
While the markets soon recovered from its lows and moved with steady gains till early noon deals, sharp buying support in select old economy stocks in mid-noon deals lifted the index to an intra-day high of 5,247.
The Sensex, however, pared gains on selective selling pressure towards the fag-end, and ended with a gain of 36 points at 5,222. The Nifty, which touched an intra-day high of 1,676, ended 12 points higher at 1,670.
Reliance languished in negative territory, and ended down a per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 496. ITC slipped from higher levels to finish down a rupee at Rs 878. HLL, however, closed up a rupee at Rs 179.
HPCL attracted considerable buying interest, and mopped up 4% gains (Rs 15) to Rs 384. SBI and MTNL lost Rs 2 each to Rs 473 and Rs 122, respectively. BHEL traded on a mixed note, and ended marginally lower at Rs 460.
ICICI Bank rallied sharply on a relentless buying support, and flared up 9% (Rs 23) to Rs 287.
Ranbaxy raked in 6% gains (Rs 58) to Rs 1,077. Dr. Reddy's clocked a per cent gain (Rs 15) at Rs 1,344. Cipla, however, closed down a rupee at Rs 1,245.
Grasim slipped sharply towards the closing hours and finished with a loss of 3% (Rs 26) at Rs 895. While Gujarat Ambuja lost a per cent (Rs 3) to Rs 290, ACC closed down a rupee at Rs 234 after early gains. L&T, however, ended in the gainers list at Rs 412 - up Rs 4.
Bajaj traded with gains, and moved up nearly 2% (Rs 15) to Rs 1,017. While Hero Honda ended in the red with a loss of Rs 6 at Rs 403, Tata Motors was down Rs 3 at Rs 424.
Infosys at Rs 5,086 (down Rs 59) and Satyam at Rs 345 (down Rs 4) remained weak through the session and ended at lower levels. Wipro, however, bucked the downtrend on steady buying support, and ended up a per cent (Rs 21) at Rs 1,586.
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