Sensex down 10pts, Godrej Consumer gains 12%

The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 35 points at 6,420. Wide-spread selling pressure soon dragged the index below the 6,400-mark to a low of 6,381 (down 74 points over its last close).

The market moved in a negative, range-bound mode thereafter as a sluggish trend prevailed in most of the counters. Selective buying at lower levels saw the index drift into the green for a while to touch a high of 6,457.

The Sensex, however, failed to hold gains, and ended with a loss of 10 points at 6,445.

ONGC was down Rs 3 at Rs 876. Reliance and HLL finished with a loss of a rupee each at Rs 542 and Rs 132, respectively. ITC, however, moved up a per cent (Rs 13) to Rs 1,482.

HDFC Bank slipped a per cent (Rs 5) to Rs 534, while SBI was down Rs 2 at Rs 615. ICICI Bank, however, ended a tad higher at Rs 393.

L&T declined 1.29% (Rs 13) to Rs 1,003, and Tata Power lost a per cent (Rs 4) to Rs 364.

Infosys rolled back into the green towards the close, and was up Rs 2 at Rs 2,063. While Wipro declined 1.52% (Rs 10) to Rs 638, Satyam was down a rupee at Rs 429.

Hero Honda gained a per cent (Rs 4) to Rs 551. Bajaj added Rs 5 to Rs 1,127. While Tata Motors also ended in the green with steady gains at Rs 429, Maruti was down a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 433.

Dr. Reddy's lost 1.48% (Rs 10) to Rs 655. While Ranbaxy, too, ended weak at Rs 865, Cipla was up a per cent (Rs 2) at Rs 276.

Hindalco and BHEL clocked a per cent gain each to close at Rs 1,208 and Rs 837, respectively. Zee was up a rupee at Rs 153.

All the sectoral indices closed with minor declines today. The BSE Bankex was down nearly a per cent at 3,713. The BSE Tech Index was down six points at 1,660. The BSE Metal, BSE Auto, BSE Oil &Gas and BSE Healthcare indices also declined.

The BSE Mid-Cap and the BSE Small Cap indices, however, closed at higher levels today.

The broad market finished on a bullish note - out of 2,395 scrips traded, 1,323 advanced, 991 declined and 81 were unchanged today.

Godrej Consumer, which announced a buyback at Rs 400/share yesterday, zoomed to a high of Rs 346 before closing with a gain of 12% (Rs 34) at Rs 323.

Bank scrips ended on a weak note. BoB dropped 5% to Rs 187. Andhra Bank was down 4% at Rs 99. Federal Bank, ING Vysya Bank, UTI Bank and OBC also declined.

Satyam was the most active counter with a turnover of Rs 121 crore followed by Reliance (Rs 80 crore) and HOEC (Rs 65 crore).