Sensex lacklustre

The market-mood remains sluggish, though the index has come off its lows on selective buying in old and new economy stocks. While auto stocks continue to bore the brunt; select tech, heavyweight and banking stocks have registered gains after a bearish opening.

The Sensex is now down 13 points at 6,208. The Nifty is weaker at 1,947 - down eight points.

ITC has moved up 1.27% (Rs 16) to Rs 1,258, after early weakness. While Reliance, on volumes of over 10.9 lakh, is subdued at Rs 518 (down Rs 2), HLL continues to remain flat at Rs 140.

Infosys has edged higher by 1.18% (Rs 23) to Rs 1,988. While Wipro has lost nearly 2% (Rs 12) to Rs 657, Satyam is down a rupee at Rs 369.

HDFC Bank, on fresh buying support, has advanced 3% (Rs 15) to Rs 515. SBI and ICICI Bank are trading with marginal losses at Rs 590 and Rs 352, respectively. Over 5.55 lakh SBI shares have changed hands on the BSE so far.

Pharma stocks are displaying divergent trends. Ranbaxy and Cipla are up a per cent each at Rs 1,079 and Rs 267, respectively. Dr. Reddy's, however, is down a per cent (Rs 7) at Rs 742.

Auto stocks have slided sharply since the opening trades. Hero Honda (down Rs 34 or 6% to Rs 524), Bajaj (down Rs 23 or 2% to Rs 1,089), Maruti (down Rs 13 or 2.96% to Rs 424) and Tata Motors (down Rs 7 or 1.51% to Rs 481) are reeling under selling pressure.

ONGC is down a per cent (Rs 7) at Rs 782, and Hindalco is down 1.31% (Rs 17) at Rs 1,243. While Tata Power has declined 2.11% (Rs 8) to Rs 351, Tisco is trading lower by 1.19% (Rs 4) at Rs 352. Over 7.42 lakh Tisco shares have been traded on BSE so far.

Bharti, with volumes of over 13.63 lakh, is trading firm and has added 3% (Rs 6) to Rs 214.

Banking stocks have attracted strong buying support. Corporation Bank has soared 11.35% (Rs 37) to Rs 350, and BoB has advanced 3.46% to Rs 215. While UTI Bank has added 2.31% to Rs 179, Union Bank is up 1.33% at Rs 103.

Reliance is leading the value chart with a turnover of Rs 52 crore, followed by Infosys (Rs 35 crore), SBI (Rs 32 crore) and Bharti (Rs 29 crore), respectively.