Sensex up 44pts, HCC zooms 9%

The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 18 points at 8,588, which also turned out to be the low for the day. The index zoomed to an intra-day high of 8,722 in early noon deals. After moving in a narrow range thereafter, the Sensex finally closed with a gain of 44 points (0.51%) at 8,650.

The sectoral indices finished on a mixed note. The BSE SmallCap Index dropped 1.9% (111 points) to 5,806. The BSE FMCG Index was down nearly a per cent at 1,563. The BSE MidCap Index was down 0.5% at 4,213. The BSE PSU, BSE Bankex and BSE Metal indices also declined.

The BSE Capital Goods Index gained 2.7% (129 points) to 4,932. The BSE Oil & Gas Index was up 0.5% at 4,042. The BSE Teck index was up 0.9% at 2,134.

The broad market mood was extremely bearish - out of 2,585 scrips traded, 2,166 (84%) declined, 395 (15%) advanced and 24 were unchanged today.

BHEL zoomed over 5% (Rs 62) to Rs 1,223. L&T also advanced 5% ( 71) to Rs 1,544.

Reliance was firm right through the session, and closed with a gain of Rs 8 at Rs 808. While ONGC added Rs 3 to Rs 1,073, SBI was up Rs 4 at Rs 940. ITC dropped Rs 3 to Rs 138, and HLL was down a rupee at Rs 184.

Infosys moved up 2.3% (Rs 58) to Rs 2,528. Satyam was up Rs 10 at Rs 552. TCS and Wipro finished with marginal gains.

Cipla zoomed 5% (Rs 18) to Rs 381. Dr. Reddy's was up Rs 26 (3%) at Rs 838. Ranbaxy, however, was down 2.5% (Rs 13) at Rs 496.

Hero Honda gained over 2% (Rs 18) to Rs 744. Bajaj was up Rs17 at Rs 1,664.

ACC advanced 1.8% (Rs 8) to Rs 486. While Gujarat Ambuja was up 2.8% at Rs 76, Grasim dropped 1.7% (Rs 22) to Rs 1,321.

HDFC dropped 1.8% (Rs 19) to Rs 1,019. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank also declined.

HCC zoomed 9.6% (Rs 96) to Rs 1,093 after the board cleared a 1:10 stock split today.

HMT dropped 8% to Rs 86. FACT, RCF and National Fertilisers also declined.

FCS Software was the most active counter with a turnover of Rs 317 crore followed by Reliance (Rs 230 crore), McDowell (Rs 185 crore), Reliance Capital (Rs 153 crore) and Satyam (Rs 149 crore).