Trading began on a sluggish note amid selling in frontline counters like Reliance Ind. The key-index remained listless and traded in a tight band in the absence of any supportive cues even as strong buying was seen in sectors like telecom and auto.
The market picked up momentum in mid-afternoon trade with buying coming in auto, healthcare, banks, capital goods, metal and select technology counters.
The benchmark would have gone down below the 5,600 level today had it not been for telecom major Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors, which rallied by more than 4 per cent.
Likewise, IT giant Wipro was in the news as it is planning to demerge its three non-IT business divisions, including consumer products segment, into a privately-held company which helped the stock gain over three per cent.
There was, however, heavy sell-off was witnessed in fmcg counters.
The 50-share Nifty oscillated between a high of 5,649.75 and a low of 5,601.95 before concluding at 5,645.05, showing a rise 25.35 points, or 0.45 per cent, over the previous close.
Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, IDFC, Wipro, Power Grid, Reliance Infra, M&M, Axis Bank and Bajaj Auto were the top Nifty gainers while Hindunilvr, ONGC, ITC, HDFC Bank, GAIL, Hindalco, Cairn, HCL-Tech, Lupin and TCS lost ground.
The turnover in cash segment stood at Rs 9,575.53 crore. Overall, 5,755.27 lakh shares changed hands in 49,41,355 trades. Total market capitalisation was Rs 63,74,104 crore.
