The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensex finished with a loss of 6.39 points at 3,014.69 on Thursday, but off the intraday high of 3,038.06, following profit-taking by institutional investors and speculators.
Trading activity on the whole remained low due to a bandh call by the VHP and Shiv Sena to condemn Tuesday's terrorist attack on a temple in Gujarat.
The volume of business was relatively high due to a block deal of 10.14 crore shares of ICICI Bank at an average price of Rs 130 per share.
"As expected, the market traded in a tight band. If not for the ICICI deal, Friday's trade would be critical due to the expiry of stock futures contracts," a dealer at a domestic mutual fund said.
Currently, stock futures are the most actively traded derivatives instruments, accounting for 65 per cent of the turnover in the segment.
ICICI Bank shed 2.76 per cent to settle at Rs 133.75 after a block deal of 10.1 crore shares just after trading commenced. The huge block deal comprised a placement of its own shares, that were held by a special purpose vehicle (SVP), to a couple of leading foreign investors - Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel and Government of Singapore Investment Corp.
Analysts said the stock dipped as market realised that funds raised by the stake sale would not boost earnings, but go into provisioning.
Most heavyweight stocks remained weak. FMCG major Hindustan Lever fell 0.71 per cent to Rs 174.90. Cigarette major ITC dipped 0.58 per cent to Rs 653, while engineering major Larsen & Toubro shed 1.57 per cent to settle at Rs 172.10.
Two-wheelers major Hero Honda ended 1.20 per cent lower at Rs 266.85, off the day's high of Rs 279. Dealers said there are expectations that the company may announce impressive vehicle sales for September 2002.
Meanwhile, technology stocks came off from their highs. Dealers said that tech stocks advanced initially on the back of a strong turnaround on Wall Street on Wednesday night.
Tech-major Infosys settled 0.13 per cent higher at Rs 3,472, but off the day's high of Rs 3,530, while Wipro ended up 0.70 per cent at Rs 1,342.95.
But Satyam Computer shed 0.30 per cent to settle at Rs 216.10. However, second-rung software counters notched handsome gains on good buying support from speculators.
