Sensex down 27pts, JL Morison zooms 20%

After opening five points higher over its last close at 6,486, the Sensex soon lost ground following weakness in select old and new economy stocks.

While the index moved in a range of 20-30 points thereafter, stock-specific gains in early noon trades lifted the index to a high of 6,495.

The market soon drifted into negative territory with the index tumbling to a low of 6,440 on a fresh spell of selling pressure in late trades. The Sensex, after logging gains in six consecutive sessions, finally ended the day with a loss of 27 points at 6,455.

Reliance tumbled 1.74% (Rs 10) to Rs 544. ITC slipped a per cent (Rs 11) to Rs 1,473. While ONGC clocked a per cent gain (Rs 7) to Rs 879, HLL finished marginally higher at Rs 133.

Infosys dropped 1.72% (Rs 36) to Rs 2,061. While Satyam gained a per cent (Rs 4) to Rs 430, Wipro ended marginally higher at Rs 648.

SBI lost a per cent (Rs 5) to Rs 617, and HDFC Bank closed down a tad at Rs 539. ICICI Bank, however, jumped 2.57% (Rs 10) to Rs 393.

Tata Motors plunged 2% (Rs 9) to Rs 428. Hero Honda and Maruti were down a per cent each at Rs 547 and Rs 437, respectively.

Dr. Reddy's, which dropped sharply in early trades, finally ended 2.22% lower (Rs 15) at Rs 665. While Cipla was down a rupee at Rs 274, Ranbaxy bucked the downtrend and advanced 1.21% (Rs 12) to Rs 969.

Hindalco was down 1.55% (Rs 19) at Rs 1,201. While HDFC lost 1.10% (Rs 8) to Rs 734, L&T was down a per cent (Rs 9) at Rs 1,014. Zee declined 1.72% (Rs 3) to Rs 151. Tata Power, however, gained 1.73% (Rs 6) to Rs 368.

Gujarat Ambuja advanced 2% (Rs 9) to Rs 444. While ACC moved up 1.64% (Rs 6) to Rs 385, Grasim was up a rupee at Rs 1,150.

The sectoral indices closed on a mixed note. The BSE Consumer Durables Index moved up 3% (53 points) to 1,699. The BSE Bankex was up nearly a per cent (32 points) at 3,737.

The BSE Tech index was down a per cent (13 points) at 1,678. The BSE Oil&Gas, Metal and Capital Goods indices also declined.

The market was a tad bullish - out of 2,405 scrips traded, 1,230 advanced, 1,081 declined and 94 were unchanged today.

Mphasis BFL gained over 6% (Rs 16) to Rs 263 on talks of stake sale by Barings.

JL Morison was locked at its 20% upper limit at Rs 197 - a gain of Rs 33 - after the company reported yesterday that it will receive Rs 18 crore from Beiersdorf AG for the cancellation of the Nivea deal.

Bongaigaon Refineries dropped 5% to Rs 92. RCF was down 4% at Rs 34. Hind Zinc, FACT, Kochi Refineries, IOC and Chennai Petro also declined.

HOEC topped the volume chart with trades in over 36 lakh shares followed by SAIL (35 lakh shares) and Alka India (31 lakh shares).

Satyam was the most active counter with a turnover of Rs 127 crore followed by Tata Steel (Rs 69 crore) and SBI (Rs 66 crore).