Sensex drops 61 pts, HLL gains 4%

The Sensex opened 16 points lower at 6,324. The market was extremely range-bound in the first-half following lacklustre trading in most counters.

Hectic activity was witnessed in mid-noon trades as strong buying in heavyweights lifted the index to a high of 6,359. The index, however, failed to hold on to the gains and plunged deep into the red soon to touch a low of 6,258. The Sensex finally finished the day at 6,278 - a loss of 61 points.

Reliance, which reported good numbers today, declined 1.48% (Rs 8) to Rs 539. ONGC tumbled 1.91% (Rs 16) to Rs 832.

Infosys dropped 2% (Rs 39) to Rs 1,920. While Satyam was down 1.35% (Rs 6) at Rs 410, Wipro ended a per cent lower (Rs 6) at Rs 636.

ICICI Bank tumbled 4.77% (Rs 19) to Rs 384. While SBI was down a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 620, HDFC Bank ended with a small gain of Rs 2 at Rs 540.

ACC fell 2.41% (Rs 9) to Rs 362. While Gujarat Ambuja lost 1.89% (Rs 8) to Rs 423, Grasim gained 1.28% (Rs 16) to Rs 1,235.

HPCL slipped 1.57% (Rs 5) to Rs 321. While Reliance Energy fell 1.42% (Rs 7) to Rs 494, Tisco shed 2.47% (Rs 9) to Rs 350.

Maruti plunged nearly 3% (Rs 12) to Rs 419. Hero Honda and Tata Motors ended with marginal losses at Rs 504 and Rs 432, respectively. Bajaj, however, moved up 1.58% (Rs 17) to Rs 1,100.

HLL flared up 3.59% (Rs 5) to Rs 143, and ITC gained 1.57% (Rs 22) to Rs 1,401.

Cipla added 4.49% (Rs 11) to Rs 255. While Dr. Reddy's dipped 1.49% (Rs 10) to Rs 656, Ranbaxy was down a per cent (Rs 7) at Rs 908.