Sensex ends down 21pts; Reliance gains 3%

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 47 points at 15,358. Fresh buying in morning trades saw the index rally to a fresh high of 15,440.

Profit-taking emerged in mid-noon trades. Aggressive selling in metal and capital goods stocks saw the index tumble to a low of 15,272 - down 168 points from the day's high.

The Sensex finally ended the three-day winning streak with a marginal loss of 21 points at 15,290.

THE MOVERS....

Ambuja Cements and Reliance soared around 3% each to Rs 137 and Rs 1,827, respectively. TCS surged 2.4% to Rs 1,155.

Dr.Reddy's rallied 1.8% to Rs 674. Satyam spurted 1.3% to Rs 488.

Wipro and ITC were up around 1% each at Rs 506 and Rs 156, respectively.

....AND THE SHAKERS

Mahindra & Mahindra shed 2.6% to Rs 800. Reliance Communications dropped 2.3% to Rs 561.

BHEL, SBI and Tata Steel plunged 2% each to Rs 1,623, Rs 1,580 and Rs 681, respectively.

Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto and HDFC declined over 1.5% each to Rs 863, Rs 2,219 and Rs 1,965, respectively.

Tata Motors, Grasim and HDFC Bank slipped 1.3% each to Rs 749, Rs 2,855 and Rs 1,200, respectively.

Reliance Energy, Cipla, Hindalco and Larsen & Toubro were down around 1% each to Rs 699, Rs 206, Rs 179 and Rs 2,392, respectively.

MOST ACTIVE COUNTERS

Indiabulls Real Estate topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 403.60 crore followed by Indiabulls (Rs 239 crore), DLF (Rs 186 crore), Reliance (Rs 166.80 crore) and GMR Infrastructure (Rs 153 crore).

Reliance Natural Resources led the volume chart with trades of around 2.32 crore shares followed by Bellary Steel (1.43 crore), debutant Celestial Labs (78 lakh), Silverline (74.75 lakh) and IFCI (74 lakh).