Sensex up 31 pts, Satyam gains 4%

The Sensex opened with a loss of eight points at 6,339 over its previous close, and immediately slumped to a low of 6,308 amid steep fall in select old and new economy stocks.

After languishing in negative territory, the market drifted into the green in late morning trades and moved in a range of 20-30 points gains on stock-specific activity till mid-noon trades. A fresh bout of buying towards the closing hours propelled the gains of the index to an intra-day high of 6,392.

The Sensex came off its highs at close and ended the session with a gain of 31 points at 6,378. The Nifty was up four points at 1,971.

Satyam emerged as a major gainer amongst the Sensex stocks, and shot up 4.49% (Rs 18) to Rs 423.

Wipro shed most of its gains on profit-taking and ended up a per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 651. Infosys, however, remained weak through the session and lost a per cent (Rs 10) to Rs 1,988.

ICICI Bank notched up 3% gains (Rs 12) to Rs 408. While SBI was up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 624, HDFC Bank ended on a flat note at Rs 539.

ONGC clocked a per cent gain (Rs 8) to Rs 862, while HLL added 1.63% (Rs 2) to Rs 134. ITC, after a mixed outing, ended a per cent lower (Rs 7) at Rs 1,386. Reliance also ended at lower levels at Rs 547.

Grasim added 1.26% (Rs 15) to Rs 1,214, and Gujarat Ambuja was up a per cent (Rs 2) at Rs 436. ACC was up a rupee at Rs 377.

Tata Motors advanced 1.76% (Rs 8) to Rs 445, and Hero Honda was up a rupee at Rs 507. While Bajaj ended weak at Rs 1,075 (down Rs 5), Maruti closed down a tad at Rs 439.

Dr. Reddy's shed 3.21% (Rs 22) to Rs 660. While Ranbaxy lost a per cent (Rs 9) to Rs 916, Cipla ended with a rupee loss at Rs 244.

Tata Power lost 1.44% (Rs 5) to Rs 357.