Sensex ends up 7pts, Infosys gains 3%

The feel-good factor saw the Sensex open with a positive gap of 35 points at 11,114. The index soon zoomed to a new all-time intra-day peak of 11,147. However, a heavy bout of profit-taking saw the index tumble into negative zone to a low of 11,051 - down 96 points from the peak.

The index, thereafter, exhibited a range-bound movement before settling for the day at a record level of 11,086 - up seven points.

The BSE Teck Index gained 1% at 2638. The Capital Goods Index dropped 1.4% to 7991 and the Consumer Durables Index slipped 1% to 3167. The Bankex was down nearly 1% at 5245.

The market breadth was extremely negative. Out of 2,614 stocks traded, 1,720 declined, 826 advanced and 68 were unchanged today.

INDEX MOVERS & SHAKERS

Infosys surged 2.7% to Rs 2,958. Wipro moved up 1.7% to Rs 529.

ONGC added 1.8% to Rs 1,280. Maruti and HDFC advanced 1.5% each to Rs 851 and Rs 1,338, respectively. Gujarat Ambuja gained 1% to Rs 99.30.

BHEL and Larsen & Toubro dropped 2.2% each to Rs 2,110 and Rs 2,400, respectively. Dr.Reddy's declined 2% to Rs 1,422.

Tata Power slipped 1.5% to Rs 585. ICICI Bank, Cipla, Hindalco and Reliance Energy were down over 1% each at Rs 592, Rs 632, Rs 173 and Rs 607, respectively.

NEWS-DRIVEN MOVES

Ranbaxy rallied to a high of Rs 410 in early deals on the news that the company had acquired the unbranded generic business of Allen SpA of Italy, a unit of GSK. The stock eventually ended with a marginal loss of Rs 2 at Rs 398.

Gujarat NRE Coke touched a high of Rs 103 after announcing the launch of the $50 million FCCB issue. The stock finally ended a rupee lower at Rs 100.

RPG Transmission soared to a high of Rs 209 before closing a tad (Re 1) higher at Rs 200 on the back of the Rs 119 crore order from Power Grid Corporation of India.

Hindustan Dorr-Oliver hit the 5% upper limit after the company's board approved a stock split in the ratio of 1:5, ie each equity share of Rs 10 to be sub-divided into five shares of Rs 2 each. The stock finished with a gain of 4.9% at Rs 814.

IL&FS Investment hit the 5% upper limit towards the end of day after the company announced that its board will meet on April 4 to consider a proposal for bonus issue. The stock finally settled with a gain of 3.8% at Rs 193. The board will also consider a proposal for raising fresh capital from overseas markets.

OTHER GAINERS & LOSERS

Gujarat Flurochemicals zoomed over 15% to Rs 460. Himachal Futuristic, Rajshree Sugar, IL&FS Investsmart, Provogue, Godavari Fertilisers, Zensar Tech, Kalpatru Power, Piramyd Retail, Asian Electronics, Mahindra Gesco and McDowell finished with gains of 6-12% each.

Birla Ericsson plunged over 9% to Rs 29.60. Nocil, Sakuma Exports, Nitin Spinners, Ind-Swift, Berger Paints, Essar Shipping, Jagran and BL Kashyap were among the other major losers today.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS

ONGC led the value chart with a turnover of Rs 328.17 crore followed by Maruti (Rs 114.36 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 99.90 crore), IVRCL Infrastructure (Rs 87.90 crore) and Reliance Communication Ventures (Rs 83.64 crore).

Himachal Futuristic topped the volume chart with trades of around 1.08 crore shares followed by SAIL (93.12 lakh), Reliance Natural Resources (83.70 lakh), Sunflag Iron & Steel (41.13 lakh) and Southern Iron & Steel (41.11 lakh).