The Sensex opened with a firm positive gap of 24 points at 6,563. Further buoyancy in most of the counters lifted the index to an intra-day high of 6,579 in early trades. The sentiment, however, turned weak by mid-morning trades as a wave of selling pressure dragged the index to a low of 6,523.After languishing in negative territory thereafter, the market witnessed a turnaround by mid-noon trades as selective buying in tech, banking, pharma and auto stocks saw the Sensex sign off the session with a gain of 26 points at 6565.The Nifty, too, after a mixed outing, gained 15 points to close at 2,029.While 17 Sensex stocks advanced, 13 declined today. Advancing shares accounted for a volume of 58 lakh amounting to Rs 316.80 crore, and declining shares registered a volume of 46 lakh for Rs 201.91 crore.The market breadth, however, was weak. Of 2,022 scrips traded on the BSE, 928 advanced, 1,052 declined and 42 stocks remained unchanged.Infosys, with a traded volume of over 2.51 lakh, logged a per cent gain (Rs 22) to Rs 2,157. While Wipro jumped 2.13% (Rs 14) to Rs 682, Satyam, however, dropped 1.74% (Rs 8) to Rs 452. The counter clocked a volume of over 15.53 lakh.ITC (up Rs 9 to Rs 1,501) and ONGC (up Rs 3 to Rs 872) finished with steady gains. Reliance, however, ended marginally lower at Rs 530.SBI, which registered a volume of over 10.96 lakh, soared 1.90% (Rs 12) to Rs 663. While ICICI Bank was down a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 399, HDFC Bank also ended in the red at Rs 543 - down Rs 3.Ranbaxy, which got the USFDA nod to launch its Clarithromycin tablets in USA, flared up 2.23% (Rs 22) to Rs 1,002. While Cipla moved up 1.92% (Rs 5) to Rs 278, Dr. Reddy's, however, was down a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 691.Tata Motors advanced 2.82% (Rs 12) to Rs 445, and Maruti gained a per cent (Rs 4) to Rs 458. Bajaj, however, slipped a per cent (Rs 11) to Rs 1,206, with Hero Honda, too, ending a per cent lower (Rs 3) at Rs 569.While Tisco, with a traded volume of over 14.86 lakh, added 1.95% (Rs 7) to Rs 358, Tata Power was up 1.26% (Rs 5) at Rs 370. Zee, however, tumbled 3.60% (Rs 5) to Rs 145, with traded volumes of over nine lakh.Metal stocks logged decent gains. Monnet Ispat shot up 8.74% (Rs 12) to Rs 155, with Sun Iron & Steel jumping 7.60% to Rs 15. While Sail soared 7.40% (Rs 4) to Rs 52, Lloyd Steel flared up 4.79% to Rs 19. PSL, Uttam Galva, Sterlite Industries, Mukand and Electrosteel Castings moved up in a range of 1-2%.Select auto stocks, however, eased today. Rane Brakes dropped 6.37% (Rs 17) to Rs 252, while Kalyani Brakes slumped 3.49% (Rs 25) to Rs 690. Mother Sumi declined 3% (Rs 2) to Rs 63, and Bajaj Tempo lost 2.41% (Rs 7) to Rs 292. Ucal Fuel, Punjab Tractors, Escorts and LML also ended at lower levels.Reliance led the value chart with a turnover of Rs 75 crore, followed by SBI (Rs 72 crore), Satyam (Rs 70 crore) and Infosys (Rs 54 crore), respectively.
