Sensex up 12pts; ACC gains 2%

The Sensex opened on a weak note at 6,443, and dropped to an early low of 6,432. The sentiment, however, turned bullish and the index touched a high of 6,482 (up 37 points over its last close) following modest-to-strong gains in select counters.

The market thereafter witnessed a range-bound (positive) trend before profit-taking dragged the index back into the red in mid-noon trades.

Stock-specific gains in late trades saw the Sensex recover from its lows, and finish the session with a gain of 12 points at 6,457.

ONGC ended with a per cent gain (Rs 8) at Rs 885. While ITC dropped 1.20% (Rs 18) to Rs 1,461, Reliance was down a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 539. HLL was down a rupee at Rs 130.

Zee advanced 2.16% (Rs 3) to Rs 156. L&T at Rs 1,020 (up Rs 17 or 1.67%), HDFC at Rs 750 (up Rs 14 or 1.89%) and Tisco at Rs 368 (up Rs 4) firmed up on decent buying support. BHEL, however, slipped a per cent (Rs 9) to Rs 825.

SBI clocked a per cent gain (Rs 4) to Rs 619. While HDFC Bank lost a per cent (Rs 5) to Rs 530, ICICI Bank ended marginally lower at Rs 392.

ACC jumped 2.20% (Rs 8) to Rs 393, and Gujarat Ambuja was up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 445. Grasim ended with a steady gain of Rs 5 at Rs 1,149.

Bajaj was up a per cent (Rs 8) at Rs 1,135. While Maruti added 1.20% (Rs 5) to Rs 438, Tata Motors gained a per cent (Rs 4) to Rs 433. Hero Honda ended with a rupee gain at Rs 552.

Infosys (down Rs 2 to Rs 2,061) finished on a subdued note. While Wipro moved up a per cent (Rs 5) to Rs 643, Satyam ended on a steady note at Rs 431.

Ranbaxy moved up 1.42% (Rs 14) to Rs 979. Dr. Reddy's and Cipla finished with steady gains at Rs 658 and Rs 278, respectively.

The BSE Small Cap Index moved up 1.6% (67 points) to 4,155. The BSE Auto Index was up 0.6% (17 points) to 2,719. The BSE Teck, BSE CD, Metal and Oil & Gas indices also closed with gains.

The mood was clearly bullish - out of 2,422 scrips traded, 1,641 advanced, 709 declined and 72 were unchanged today.

Reliance was the most active counter with a turnover of Rs 133 crore followed by Infosys (Rs 76 crore) and BEML (Rs 65 crore).