Sensex drops 5pts, Rolta zooms 16%

The Sensex opened on a weak note at 6,448 - down nine points from its previous close. After easing further to touch an early low of 6,419, the Sensex languished in negative territory (down 15-25 pts) thereafter till mid-noon trades.

Fresh buying in select old economy stocks saw the Sensex drift into the green in late noon trades to touch an intra-day high of 6,463.

The Sensex, after witnessing fluctuating trends towards the closing bell, finally ended five points lower at 6,452.

Infosys dropped 1.42% (Rs 29) to Rs 2,032. While Satyam declined 1.71% (Rs 7) to Rs 423, Wipro lost a per cent (Rs 7) to Rs 636.

ONGC and Reliance slipped a per cent each to Rs 879 (down Rs 6) and Rs 536 (down Rs 3), respctively. ITC, however, moved up a per cent (Rs 13) to Rs 1,479.

HDFC Bank closed with a steady gain of Rs 3 at Rs 533. While ICICI was up a per cent (Rs 2) at Rs 395, SBI ended on a flat note at Rs 620.

Hero Honda lost 1.19% (Rs 7) to Rs 546, and Maruti was down a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 435. Bajaj was up Rs 2 at Rs 1,140.

Cipla moved up 1.86% (Rs 5) to Rs 282. While Dr. Reddy's gained 1.14% (Rs 7) to Rs 665, Ranbaxy was up marginally at Rs 980.

HDFC surged 2.93% (Rs 22) to Rs 772. While BHEL added nearly 2% (Rs 16) to Rs 843, Zee was up a per cent (Rs 2) at Rs 157. Bharti, however, lost 1.66% (Rs 4) to Rs 216.

The BSE Mid-Cap and the BSE Small Cap Indices continued to log gains. The BSE Small Cap Index moved up 1.68% (70 points) to 4,225 points. The BSE Bankex, the BSE Consumer Durables, the BSE FMCG and BSE Metal indices, too, closed with gains. The BSE Tech index was down a per cent at 1,645 points.

The broad market continued to be bullish - out of 2,478 scrips traded, 1,642 advanced, 779 declined and 57 were unchanged today.

Rolta zoomed 16% (Rs 14) to Rs 103. Mirc Electronics gained 7% to Rs 22.

Godrej Consumer declined 4% (Rs 13) to Rs 325. Abbott India was down 2% at Rs 660.

Zee topped the volume chart with over 2.12 crore shares changing hands followed by Rolta (38 lakh shares) and LIC Housing Finance (35 lakh shares).

Zee was the most active counter with a turnover of Rs 341 crore followed by LIC Housing Finance (Rs 87 crore) and Tata Tea (Rs 82 crore).