Sensex ends at 8650, up 54 points

The Sensex began the day on a promising note at 8612, up 16 points. After gaining few more points in the opening deals, the index slipped into the negative zone to touch a low of 8547, on account of profit taking. However, the index soon recovered from the day's low, and thereafter swung in and out of the positive zone on the back of alternate bouts of buying and selling.

Continued buying in the last session saw the Sensex surge to the day's high of 8663, up 116 points from the day's low. The index finally settled with gains of 54 points at 8650.

Out of the 30 Sensex stocks, 22 stocks ended in the positive zone while the balance eight closed in red.

The S&P CNX Nifty, moved in a range of 2,609 to 2,558, before signing-off the day at 2,604, up 21 points.

Ranbaxy was the major gainer, it closed with gains of 3% at Rs 400. ICICI Bank advanced 2.5% to Rs 546, and HDFC Bank moved up 1.4% to Rs 699. ONGC and Hindalco spurted 2% each to Rs 1,008 and Rs 134, respectively. Reliance Industries gained 1.4% at Rs 829 while Reliance Energy ended 1% higher at Rs 567.

Late buying at the SBI counter saw the stock perk up by 2% to Rs 914, and Wipro jump 1% to Rs 413.

Auto stocks were also in limelight throughout the day. Tata Motors led the pack with gains of 2.4% at Rs 531. Bajaj Auto at Rs 1,932 and Hero Honda at Rs 807, were up 2% each while Maruti added 1% to Rs 588.

On the other hand, HDFC was the major loser, the stock slipped 2.4% to Rs 1,042.  Infosys and Grasim declined 1% each to Rs 2,706 and Rs 1,257, respectively. Dr.Reddy's and TCS were the only other notable losers.

Overall the market breadth was fairly neutral. Out of a total of 2,567 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,233 stocks advanced, 1,272 stocks declined while 62 stocks were unchanged.

Among other major gainers and losers, Adani Exports surged 6.5%, Dabur and Ashok Leyland jumped 5.5% each. Asahi India, Thermax, Corporation Bank, Reliance Capital, ING Vysya Bank, RCF, Titan, VisualSoft, GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, Cummins and Britannia were up 4-5% each.

Whereas, Welspun Guj was the major loser, down 4% followed by Ramco System down 3%. Indian Overseas Bank,  Rolta, Sterling Biotech, BASF India, GTL, Tata Elxsi, Bank of Baroda, HMT, Balaji Tele, GE Shipping, Jet Airways, Bongaigaon Refinery, Kotak Bank, India Cement, Torrent Pharma, Nirma and Orchid Chemicals declined 1-2% each.