The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 17 points at 8,913, and touched a high of 8,932 in early deals. Profit-taking saw the index drop into negative zone, and touch a low of 8,826 in noon deals - an intra-day swing of 106 points. A steady recovery from lower levels saw the index recoup lost ground, and finally close with a gain of 10 points at 8,906. The sectoral indices largely finished with gains today. The BSE Consumer Durables Index zoomed 5.7% (176 points) to 3,257. The BSE Auto Index moved up 1% (40 points) to 4,064. The BSE Healthcare Index was up 1% (31 points) at 3,064. The BSE Teck, PSU, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods indices also moved up today. The BSE Metal Index dropped seven points to 5,943, and the BSE FMCG Index was down three points at 1,580. Advances were ahead of declines - out of 2,536 scrips traded, 1,365 moved up, 1,083 declined and 88 were unchanged today. Cipla gained 3.5% (Rs 14) to Rs 427. TCS moved up 1.5% (Rs 24) to Rs 1,619. Infosys added Rs 18 to Rs 2,818. While Satyam was down Rs 2 at Rs 664, Wipro was down a rupee at Rs 435. ONGC added 1.3% (Rs 14) to Rs 1,094. Reliance was up Rs 2 at Rs 846. HLL was up a notch at Rs 188, but SBI was down a rupee at 886. Bajaj advanced Rs 24 to Rs 2,014. Maruti was up Rs 6 at Rs 625, and Tata Motors moved up Rs 5 to Rs 564. BHEL gained Rs 17 to Rs 1,384. Bharti was up Rs 5 at Rs 351. ACC, Gujarat Ambuja, Tata Power and Hindalco also finished with gains. HDFC dropped 1.5% (Rs 16) to Rs 1,104. L&T declined 1.3% (Rs 23) to Rs 1,688. Grasim was down Rs 17 at Rs 1,359. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddy's and Tata Steel also declined. Torrent Pharma zoomed 14% (Rs 96) to Rs 770 after the company announced that the board will consider a bonus as well as a stock split soon. Titan zoomed 11% (Rs 79) to Rs 800. Kotak Bank advanced 10% (Rs 24) to Rs 249. DSP Merill Lynch gained 4% (Rs 87) to Rs 2,062 after Merrill Lynch announced a complete buyout and plans to delist the company from the BSE. Reliance was the most active counter with a turnover of Rs 380 crore followed by Titan (Rs 309 crore), Reliance Capital (Rs 88 crore), SBI (Rs 85 crore) and Infosys (Rs 60 crore). |