The Sensex opened weak with a loss of 17 points at 5,374, and declined further in early deals to touch a low of 5,351 on sustained selling pressure in select old and new economy stocks.
The markets, which crossed the 5,400 levels during intra-day deals, witnessed volatility till early noon deals as selling pressure in cement, auto and select PSU stocks kept the index at lower levels. Hectic buying towards the fag end in heavyweights, pharma and select tech stocks lifted the index to an intra-day high of 5,445.
The Sensex finally settled with a gain of 46 points at 5,437. The Nifty added 12 points to close at 1,736.
ITC rallied sharply on an unabated buying support, and surged 4% (Rs 37) to Rs 1,032. HLL continuing with its upward trend, notched up 3% gains (Rs 6) to Rs 200. Reliance had a mixed outing, and ended up per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 505.
Infosys held gains on buying support, and advanced 2% (Rs 89) to Rs 5,233. Wipro reversed its trend into positive zone towards the closing hours, and moved up a per cent (Rs 19) to Rs 1,687. Satyam, however, languished in negative territory, and ended 2% lower (Rs 7) at Rs 354.
Cipla displayed positive trends, and logged 3% gains (Rs 36) to Rs 1,221. While Ranbaxy gained 2% (Rs 27) to Rs 1,108, Dr. Reddy's was up Rs 5 at Rs 1,358.
SBI remained weak through the session, and closed down a per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 480. HPCL and MTNL were down a tad each at Rs 403 and Rs 117, respectively. BHEL, however, attracted considerable buying towards the end, and advanced 3% (Rs 13) to Rs 457.
Bajaj moved up a per cent (Rs 15) to Rs 1,056, after remaining weak for better part of the trading session. While Hero Honda lost nearly 3% (Rs 10) to Rs 387, Tata Motors was down a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 420.
Grasim (down Rs 12 to Rs 941), Gujarat Ambuja (down Rs 3 to Rs 296), L&T (down Rs 7 to Rs 435) and ACC (down Rs 2 to Rs 226) reeled under selling pressure and finished at lower levels.
