After adding eight points over its last close to open at 6,790, the index extended its gains past the 6,800-mark in quick succession, before selective selling pressure dampened the market sentiment.The Sensex, after dipping to a low of 6,757 in mid-morning trades, rebounded into positive territory as market-mood remained bullish thereafter.A strong wave of buying support in heavyweights, select tech, banking and other old economy counters in mid-noon trades saw the index zoom to a high of 6,844 - up 62 points over its previous close.The Sensex finally wrapped up the session with a strong surge of 51 points at 6,833. The Nifty also ended firm at 2,103 - up 12 points.While 16 Sensex stocks advanced, 14 declined today. Advancing shares accounted for a volume of 53 lakh amounting to Rs 309.14 crore, and declining shares registered a volume of 31 lakh for Rs 99.19 crore.The breadth of the market was positive as gainers outpaced losers on the BSE. Of 2,077 scrips traded, 1,212 advanced, 820 declined and 45 remained unchanged.ONGC jumped 1.85% (Rs 17) to Rs 918. While HLL moved up 2.89% (Rs 4) to Rs 150, Reliance was up half a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 569. ITC, too, ended with steady gains at Rs 1,570 - up Rs 8.ICICI Bank reported strong gains and soared 4.13% (Rs 17) to Rs 424, while HDFC Bank gained a per cent (Rs 4) to Rs 580. SBI ended with a rupee gain at Rs 682.Satyam advanced 1.94% (Rs 9) to Rs 473. Infosys (up Rs 8 to Rs 2,221) and TCS (up Rs 5 to Rs 1,271) finished with steady gains. Wipro, however, ended off-gains at Rs 722 - down Rs 2.Bajaj slipped from higher levels and dipped 1.26% (Rs 16) to Rs 1,223. Hero Honda and Maruti were down a per cent each at Rs 546 (down Rs 5) and Rs 445 (down Rs 3), respectively. Tata Motors, however, closed up a tad at Rs 423.L&T shot up 4.46% (Rs 49) to Rs 1,149. While HDFC declined 1.58% (Rs 13) to Rs 830, Tisco slipped a per cent (Rs 4) to Rs 331.IT stocks attracted strong buying support today. NIIT has the hit the 20% upper limit of the circuit breaker at Rs 245 - up Rs 41. Polaris Lab shot up 10% (Rs 11) to Rs 120, with Mphasi adding 5.53% (Rs 15) to close at Rs 285. SSI, Igate Global, NIIT Techno, Mascon Global, Ramco Systems and Flextronics added 2-4%. Geometric Software, which lowered its guidance for the first quarter in an announcement in early trades, however, dropped 9.57% (Rs 54) to Rs 515.Metal scrips, however, faltered under selling pressure. Sesa Goa tumbled 6.13% (Rs 37) to Rs 571. While Kalyani Steel lost 3.49% (Rs 5) to Rs 127, Nalco slipped 3% (Rs 4) to Rs 145. Jindal Vijaynagar Steel, Hind Zinc, Uttam Galva, Ispat and Sterlite Industries ended 1-3% lower.
