Indices unchanged

After opening 59 points higher over its previous close of 17127, the bellwether scaled lower to touch an intra-day low of 17059 and an intra-day high of 17196. However on the back of selective buying in pivotal stocks the Sensex ended flat, mere 8 points higher at 17135. Nifty was down half a point at 5083.

The number of declining shares was more than advancing shares. Of the 2,863 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,136 stocks rose, while 1,653 stocks fell. The remaining 74 stocks ended unchanged.

Sectoral indices showed mixed result. BSE Teck, BSE IT, BSE FMCG, BSE Bankex, BSE PSU and BSE Metal ended with gains, whereas BSE HC, BSE Auto, BSE CD, BSE Oil & Gas, BSE Power, BSE CG and BSE Realty ended with losses.

Among gainers, Bharti Airtel flared up 4.01% to Rs435.35, Reliance Communications moved up 3.25% to Rs318, ICICI Bank jumped 2.17% to Rs924.45, Tata Consultancy Services gained 2.03% to Rs631.95, Mahindra & Mahindra scaled up 1.14% to Rs891.25 and Bharat Heavy Electricals were 1.07% up at Rs2349.95. While ONGC, Hindustan Uniliver, Wipro, ACC, Infosys Technologies, Jaiprakash Associates and State Bank of India reported marginal gains. Maruti Suzuki India dropped 2.82% to Rs1,651, HDFC shed 2.80% to quote at Rs2,699.15, Grasim Industries was down 2.44% to Rs2,700.80, Tata Power lost 2.18% to 1,290.65, Hero Honda Motors declined 2.11% to trade at Rs1,634.45, while Tata Motors, Hindalco Industries, National Thermal Power Corporation, Reliance Industries, Reliance Infrastructure and Larsen & Toubro were down 1-2%.

Over 3.42 crore shares of Ispat Industries changed hands on the BSE followed by Ambuja Cement (87.42 lakh shares), Unitech (87.38 lakh shares), IDFC (75.48 lakh shares) and IFCI (73.24 lakh shares).