Sensex ends down 26pts, ITC gains 2%

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 39 points at 15,655, and rallied to a high of 15,716 - only 153 points away from its all-time high.

Though the index drifted into negative zone in early deals, the index displayed strength for the major part of the day.

A fresh round of selling in late deals saw the index tumble to a low of 15,565 - down 151 points from the day's high.

The Sensex finally settled with a marginal loss of 26 points at 15,590. The index ended the week with a gain of 272 points.

The BSE Auto and Realty indices were down 1% each at 4890 and 7470, respectively.

The market breadth was marginally positive - out of 2,767 stocks traded, 1,369 advanced, 1,317 declined and 81 were unchanged today.

INDEX MOVERS...

ITC surged nearly 2% to Rs 178. ONGC gained 1.6% at Rs 851. Hindalco moved up 1.3% to Rs 157.

HDFC and HDFC Bank were up around 1% each at Rs 2,130 and Rs 1,196, respectively.

...AND THE SHAKERS

Mahindra & Mahindra and Cipla dropped nearly 2.5% each to Rs 704 and Rs 181, respectively.

Tata Motors slipped over 2% to Rs 697. ACC shed 1.4% at Rs 1,087.

Reliance Energy, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance, Maruti and Ranbaxy were down over 1% each at Rs 850, Rs 214, Rs 1,961, Rs 873 and Rs 410, respectively.

MOST ACTIVE COUNTERS

Aptech topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 126.50 crore followed by Reliance (Rs 100.70 crore), Welspun Gujarat (Rs 95.15 crore), ONGC (Rs 92 crore) and IFCI (Rs 84.70 crore).

Nagarjuna Fertilisers led the volume chart with trades of around 1.34 crore shares followed by IFCI (1.20 crore), Tata Tele (92.65 lakh), IKF Technologies (91.20 lakh) and Bellary Steel (80.50 lakh)