Sensex gains 57pts; L&T sizzles

The Sensex opened with a gain of 14 points at 6,360, but immediately slipped to a low of 6,346. The bounce from the low saw the index log gains on buying in heavyweights like Reliance. The index moved in positive zone for the rest of the session, and closed on a firm note with a gain of 57 points at 6,403.

The Nifty was up 25 points at 2,027.

While 25 Sensex scrips advanced with a volume of 1.57 crore shares totalling Rs 735 crore, five declined with a volume of 12 lakh shares for Rs 30 crore.

Infosys was up more than a per cent (Rs 24) to Rs 2,114. ITC gained Rs 10 to Rs 1,265, and SBI was up Rs 9 at Rs 592. While Reliance was up marginally at Rs 481, HLL was down a rupee at Rs 148.

L&T vaulted 5% (Rs 45) to Rs 983. Zee moved up more than 3% (Rs 6) to Rs 180. Dr. Reddy's moved up nearly 3% (Rs 25) to Rs 864. HDFC Bank was up 2% (Rs 11) to Rs 492. Hero Honda gained more than 2% (Rs 13) to Rs 522.

Wipro was up Rs 10 at Rs 768, and Satyam added Rs 4 to Rs 419. BHEL, Cipla, HDFC, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank also moved up.

Grasim advanced 2% (Rs 26) to Rs 1,296. While Gujarat Ambuja was up Rs 4 at Rs 392, ACC was up Rs 3 at Rs 319.

Bharti declined Rs 4 to Rs 195. Bajaj and Ranbaxy finished on a weak note.

United Breweries, which annouced a 37.5% stake sale yesterday, opened on a firm note at 527, but finally finished with a loss of more than a per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 496.

Bank scrips lost ground on profit-taking. ING Vysya Bank zoomed to a high of Rs 692, but shed gains to close with a modest rise of a per cent (Rs 7) at Rs 611. South Indian Bank, which touched a high of Rs 77 in intra-day deals, closed nearly flat at Rs 70. Karnataka Bank touched a high of Rs 244 before closing with a gain of 4% (Rs 8) at Rs 216. IndusInd Bank touched a high of Rs 57.40 before closing with a gain of 3% at Rs 56.