The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 16 points at 8,816, and moved up to a high of 8,822 in early deals. The index started drifting lower on profit-taking, and dropped to a low of 8,696 - a drop of 126 points from the intra-day high - in noon deals. The Sensex finally closed with a loss of 75 points (0.86%) at 8,724.ITC dropped nearly 4% (Rs 5) to Rs 131. While ONGC declined Rs 8 to Rs 1,072, Reliance was down Rs 4 at Rs 802.SBI dipped Rs 10 to Rs 947, and HLL was down Rs 3 at Rs 181.Infosys, which was weak right through the session, finally closed with a gain of Rs 13 at Rs 2,643. Wipro added Rs 4 to Rs 404. TCS declined Rs 20 to Rs 1,470.ICICI Bank slipped over 4% (Rs 28) to Rs 561. BHEL dropped Rs 19 to Rs 1,260. Bajaj was down Rs 15 at Rs 1,795. Ranbaxy moved up over 2% (Rs 10) to Rs 513. Grasim added Rs 13 to Rs 1,353. HDFC was up Rs 8 at Rs 1,031.
