Sensex up 5 pts at close, tech stocks slump

The Sensex resumed six points lower over its last close at 6,747, but soon rolled back into the green as steady buying commenced in select counters. Stocks rallied sharply in mid-morning trades as broad-based buying propelled the index above the 6,800-mark to an intra-day high of 6,814 - up 73 points from the day's low.

After moving in a range of 6,796-6,810 till mid-noon trades, the market witnessed a sharp turnaround thereafter. Steep slide in select tech and other heavweights dragged the index to a low of 6,741 towards the fag-end.

The Sensex, however, on selective buying, ended five points up at 6,578. The Nifty, which breached the 2,100-mark in early trades, was up a point at 2,093.

While 16 Sensex stocks advanced, 14 declined today. Advancing shares clocked a volume of 59 lakh amounting to Rs 216.18 crore, and declining shares accounted for a volume of 64 lakh for Rs 323.58 crore.

The market breadh was positive. Of 2,062 scrips traded on the BSE - 1,236 advanced, 772 declined and 54 stocks were unchanged.

NTPC, which commenced trading in BSE-30 Sensex today, rose 3.50% (Rs 3) to Rs 86. Over 29.14 lakh shares weretraded.

ONGC gained 1.11% (Rs 10) to Rs 936. While HLL shed 2% (Rs 3) to Rs 148, Reliance, on volumes of over 22.46 lakh, slipped from higher levels to end a per cent lower (Rs 3) at Rs 552.

SBI, which registered a volume of over 14.47 lakh, flared up 2.42% (Rs 16) to Rs 682. HDFC Bank advanced 2.67% (Rs 14) to Rs 553, while ICICI Bank was down a rupee at Rs 394.

ACC rose 1.83% (Rs 7) to Rs 381, while Gujarat Ambuja was up a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 446. Grasim, however, slipped a per cent (Rs 6) to Rs 1,098.

Bajaj and Maruti were up a per cent each at Rs 1,283 (up Rs 10) and Rs 455 (up Rs 3), respectively. Hero Honda lost a per cent (Rs 5) to Rs 552.

Ranbaxy climbed 1.57% (Rs 17) to Rs 1,110. Other pharma majors, however, finished on a flat note.

HDFC moved up 1.75% (Rs 13) to Rs 780, while L&T was up a per cent (Rs 8) at Rs 1,099. Tata Power added 1.55% (Rs 6) to Rs 381. Hindalco, however, dropped 2.55% (Rs 28) to Rs 1,080. Tisco was down a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 349.

Infosys slumped a per cent (Rs 24) to Rs 2,219. While Satyam declined 1.33% (Rs 6) to Rs 459, Wipro lost a per cent (Rs 7) to Rs 715. Tisco ended a rupee lower at Rs 1,280.

Select banking stocks attracted buying support. Indian Overseas Bank soared 5% (Rs 4) to Rs 79, and BOI moved up 3.53% (Rs 3) to Rs 103. While OBC gained 2.75% (Rs 7) to Rs 270, Union Bank of India was up 2.32% (Rs 2) at Rs 108. BoB, Allahabad Bank, PNB and Andhra Bank were up in a range of 1-2%.

Select IT scrips, however, ended weak today. Mphasis lost 3.49% (Rs 10) to Rs 277, while igate global slipped 2.63% (Rs 6) to Rs 228. Subex System, Tata Elxsi, Moser Baer, Sonata Software and i-flex shed between 1-2%.