Sensex gains amid choppy trading

The market was poised for a negative close, but late bout of buying pulled the Sensex above 20,200 and halted its downturn. Frontline stocks traded within a narrow range on the back of expiry of December derivative contracts, but mid- and small-cap shares remained buoyant for entire trading session. Shrugging off the mixed trend in Asian markets, Sensex resumed 108 points above its last close at 20,193.It extended its upmove for a brief period and touched the day's high of 20,324, however profit bookings at higher levels saw it shed over 130 points and enter into negative territory by afternoon. Lack of buying interest kept the market lacklustre thereafter and Sensex touched the day's low of 20,160. But, consumer durables, metal, PSU and FMCG shares received some buying support towards the close and the market turned positive. Sensex finally closed the session at 20,217, up 24 points, while the Nifty ended the session with a gain of 11 points at 6,082.

The breadth of the market was positive. Of the 2,953 stocks traded on the BSE, 2,069 stocks advanced, 841 stocks declined and 43 stocks ended unchanged. On sectoral front,BSE CD index was up 1.79% at 6,339 and BSE FMCG index gained 0.92% at 2,253. However BSE Auto index, BSE CG index, BSE HC index, BSE IT index, BSE Teck index and BSE Realty index closed marginally down.

Among the major losers, Tata Motors shed 2.05% at Rs737, Satyam Computer declined 1.72% at Rs451, Reliance Communications fell 1.66% at Rs731, Bharti Airtel slipped 1.65% at Rs966, while Ranbaxy, L&T, Grasim, SBI, M&M and Infosys were marginally down. HDFC Bank, however, gained 2.77% at Rs1,750, followed by Wipro up 2.54% at Rs549, ICICI Bank added 1.85% at Rs1,242, ITC jumped 1.85% at Rs203 and Tata Steel was up by 1.52% at Rs906.

Over 2.62 crore IKF Technology shares changed hands on the BSE followed by GV Films (1.95 crore shares), Himachal Futuristic Communication (1.86 crore shares), Maars Software (1.71 crore shares) and Arvin Remedies (1.50 crore shares).

Valuewise, Essar Oil registered a turnover of Rs272 crore on the BSE followed by Reliance Energy (Rs225 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs179 crore), Reliance Petroleum (Rs173 crore) and Orchid Chemical (Rs120 crore).