Sensex up 15pts; SBI gains 3%

The Sensex opened with a small negative gap of four points at 6,889, and soon slumped to an intra-day low of 6,850 on sharp correction in most of the stocks.

While the markets rebounded into the green on selective buying in mid-morning trades, weakness in tech and other select stocks saw the index slip back to lower levels and display a negative, range-bound trend till mid-noon trades.

Recovery, led by select heavyweights, banking and old economy counters, lifted the Sensex to an intra-day high of 6,918 towards the closing bell. The Sensex finally closed with a gain of 15 points at 6,908.

The Nifty, too, after a mixed outing ended six points higher at 2,167.

While 15 Sensex stocks advanced, 14 declined and one remained unchanged today. Advancing stocks registered a volume of 72 lakh for Rs 479.44 crore, and declining shares accounted for a volume of 1.95 crore amounting to Rs 1,100.19 crore.

The market breadth was positive with 1,427 gainers and 999 losers while 73 stocks ended unchanged.

ONGC, with a traded volume of over 8.20 lakh, scaled up 2% (Rs 19) to Rs 931. Reliance, which clocked a volume of over 19.68 lakh, gained 1.12% (Rs 7) to Rs 594. ITC was up a per cent (Rs 12) at Rs 1,384. HLL ended on a flat note at Rs 144.

SBI, with a traded volume of over 24.13 lakh, shot up 3% (Rs 22) to Rs 742. ICICI Bank was up Rs 2 at Rs 392. HDFC Bank, however, after a mixed outing ended a per cent lower (Rs 3) at Rs 615. The counter clocked a volume of over 1.17 crore on the BSE.

While HDFC jumped 2.30% (Rs 18) to Rs 820, HPCL added 1.28% (Rs 4) to Rs 339.

Grasim and ACC were up a per cent each at Rs 1,397 (up Rs 12) and Rs 369 (up Rs 2), respectively. Gujarat Ambuja, however, ended weak with a per cent loss (Rs 3) at Rs 440.

Bajaj (up Rs 4 to Rs 1,100) and Maruti (up Rs 2 to Rs 461) ended with steady gains. While Hero Honda was up a rupee at Rs 555, Tata Motors ended a tad lower at Rs 468.

Wipro shed 1.43% (Rs 10) to Rs 704. Infosys and Satyam lost a per cent each to Rs 2,232 (down Rs 19) and Rs 416 (down Rs 2), respectively.

Cipla dropped 3.69% (Rs 11) to Rs 285. While Ranbaxy, too, ended lower with a per cent loss (Rs 9) at Rs 1,083, Dr. Reddy's closed up a per cent (Rs 7) at Rs 758.

Bharti came off its lows to end with a small loss of Rs 2 at Rs 227.

PSU banking stocks rose on sharp buying support. Allahabad Bank soared 9.47% (Rs 8) to Rs 98. UCO Bank surged 4.68% (Rs 2) to Rs 35. IOB moved up 4.37% (Rs 4) to Rs 85, and Union Bank gained 4.26% (Rs 5) to Rs 131. BoB, Vijaya Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Dena Bank, Canara Bank and OBC ended higher in a range of 1-4%.

Auto and auto ancilliary stocks, too, rallied today. Phoenix Lamps notched up 10.73% gains (Rs 4) to Rs 44. Maharashtra Scooters, on reports on Bajaj Auto picking up stake in the company, spurted 9.31% (Rs 19) to Rs 225. While Bajaj Tempo rose 7.84% (Rs 25) to Rs 344, Rane Brakes gained 3.36% (Rs 6) to Rs 187. Munjal Auto, Omax Auto and Ashok Leyland also ended with decent gains.