The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensex touched an intra-day high of 3038.92 today, but settled only 3.62 points higher at 3009.76.
Gains during the earlier part of the day were offset by profit booking at higher levels. Meanwhile, at the National Stock Exchange, the Nifty index finished with a loss of 1.65 points at 971.65.
Dealers said though the market had opened on a firm note in the morning, it lost steam in the afternoon, when participants unwound positions and decided to book profits rather than stay invested.
Most of the market movements was due to the IT sector stocks, which were buoyed due to a rally in the US futures market.
However, in line with US futures, tech stocks ended their brief rally tamely. Wipro announced its quarterly results today morning. The results turned out to be more or less in line with expectations, but failed to lift the market. The scrip settled at Rs 1438.95, down 1.23 per cent.
Among other frontline tech stocks, HCL Tech was up 4.10 per cent to Rs 219.60, while Satyam and Infosys also improved marginally. The overall market displayed mixed trends.
The fall in the sensex was also attributed to the Reliance scrip, which closed lower at Rs 242.60, off its intra-day high of Rs 247.50.
Cement scrips exhibited gains on reports that cement prices would go up by Rs 11 (per 50 kg bag) in Mumbai. ACC, Gujarat Ambuja (Rs 168.80) and Grasim (Rs 307.60) went up marginally.
Among auto stocks, Hero Honda was up by more than 7 per cent to Rs 255.75 mainly on expectations of a 30 to 40 per cent growth in net profits for the second quarter.
Bargain hunting in MTNL pulled up the scrip price by more than 2 per cent to Rs 102.55. The stock had lost ground on news of an impending merger with BSNL.
L&T, which had gained around 10 per cent on the open offer announcement by Grasim, lost marginally to close at Rs 188.75.
Among banking stocks, ICICI Bank was down nearly 6 per cent to Rs 129.30 due to apprehensions of a supply overhang on reports that Bajaj Auto could divest its entire holding in the bank.
Satyam active
Satyam Computer and Infosys Technologies stocks futures were most active today. There was also substantial trading interest in PSU stocks HPCL and BPCL. Satyam Computer futures witnessed 14,256 contracts being traded at an average price of Rs 223.15, while Infosys Technologies saw 5,786 contracts being traded.
In stock options, Satyam call at Rs 220 witnessed the highest number of contracts. Trading was volatile and Nifty futures traded at a discount to the spot for a major portion of the day.
