The Sensex opened steady with a gain of six points at 5,235. Early volatility in the markets saw the index slip to a low of 5,221, but recovered soon to remain in the positive territory through out the session on sustained buying support.

After remaining steady in the opening deals, gains in heavyweights, tech and other select old economy stocks triggered the rally which saw the index cross the 5,300 mark to touch a high of 5,301 in late afternoon deals.

The Sensex, however, trimmed gains towards the close on profit-taking in select stocks, and finished 1.07% higher (56 points) at 5,285. The Nifty, after touching an intra-day high of 1,697, ended 11 points up at 1,687.

Reliance at Rs 498 (up Rs 13 or 3%) and ITC at Rs 982 (up Rs 31 or 3%) rallied sharply on sustained buying support. HLL closed up a rupee at Rs 188.

SBI was up Rs 2 at Rs 464. HPCL and MTNL ended with marginal gains at Rs 391 and Rs 120, respectively. BHEL, however, slipped from higher levels to finish down a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 455.

Wipro notched up significant gains on sustained buying support, and advanced 4% (Rs 60) to Rs 1,608. Satyam was down Rs 2 at Rs 336.

Infosys, which slipped to a low of 4,930 in early deals, but bounced back to touch a high of 5,039, ended down a rupee at Rs 4,975 on selling pressure.

Grasim, L&T and Gujarat Ambuja moved up a per cent to Rs 908 (up Rs 9), Rs 436 (up Rs 5) and Rs 291 (up Rs 4), respectively. ACC closed down a tad at Rs 223.

Bajaj displayed firm trend through the session, and logged 4% gains (Rs 40) to Rs 1,026. Tata Motors ended on a subdued note with a per cent loss (Rs 3) at Rs 422. Hero Honda ended marginally lower at Rs 397.

Dr. Reddy's ended off-highs to finish up a per cent (Rs 19) at Rs 1,388. While Ranbaxy shed 2% (Rs 22) to Rs 1,084, Cipla lost a per cent (Rs 10) to Rs 1,219.