The Sensex opened 13 points higher over its last close at 6,913. While selective buying saw the index inch up further in early trades, it seesawed thereafter in the first half following mixed trading in most of the sectors.
The market steadily declined in the afternoon trades, and the Sensex plunged deep into the red to touch an intra-day low of 6,856.
However, late upsurge in Reliance counter and other stock-specific gains led the market bounce back, and the Sensex touched a high of 6,922 towards the fag-end of the trading session.
The Sensex finally settled with a small gain of six points at 6,906. The Nifty was down a point at 2,123.
While 13 Sensex stocks advanced, 16 declined today. Advancing shares accounted for a volume of 82 lakh amounting to Rs 457.89 crore, and declining shares registered a volume of 26 lakh for Rs 207.75 crore.
Reliance continued with its north-bound trend and soared 1.70% (Rs 10) to Rs 601. HLL was up a rupee at Rs 149. ITC's stock-split and bonus issue announcemet failed to lift the sentiment, and the counter ended weak at Rs 1,546. ONGC lost a per cent (Rs 9) to Rs 918.
Wipro moved up 1.18% (Rs 9) to Rs 744. While Infosys added Rs 9 to Rs 2,289, Satyam was up at Rs 486. TCS, however, slipped a per cent (Rs 10) to Rs 1,267.
HDFC rose 2% (Rs 17) to Rs 861, while ICICI Bank came off its highs and ended flat 416. Both banks yesterday annonced a price hike by 0.50% in their home loan portfolio.
Whle SBI scaled down 1.82% (Rs 12) to Rs 667, HDFC Bank was down a rupee at Rs 595.
Hindalco logged 1.13% gains (Rs 13) to Rs 1,136, while Tata Power lost 1.83% (Rs 7) to Rs 374.
Maruti gained a per cent (Rs 5) to Rs 445. Tata Motors dropped 1.58% (Rs 7) to Rs 420. Bajaj (down Rs 3 to Rs 1,250) and Hero Honda (down Rs 2 to Rs 548) also ended at lower levels.
Grasim shed 1.84% (Rs 21) to Rs 1,094, and Gujarat Ambuja slipped a per cent (Rs 3) to Rs 451.
Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddy's and Cipla ended weak at Rs 1,047, Rs 719 and Rs 285, respectively.
