A redeeming factor was that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were resuming purchases on the bourses, having put in Rs 74.30 crore on Thursday, against an outflow of Rs 15.1 crore in the previous session on Wednesday.

At 14:20 IST, the BSE Sensex was trading 12.18 points higher at 2,936.21. The NSE S & P CNX Nifty Index was up 5.75 points at 930.05.

Aluminium major Hindalco (up 3.47% to Rs 619) firmed up after opening steady. Over 64,000 Hindalco shares were traded on BSE so far.

Housing finance major HDFC (up 3.14% to Rs 309) climbed after a recent fall from the higher levels. Prior to today's gains, the stock of the housing finance major shed 24% to Rs 299.60 on 25 April from its recent high of Rs 394.40 touched on 10 February 2003.

Heavyweights FMCG behemoth Hindustan Lever (up 2.13% to Rs 138.90), diversified private sector giant Reliance Industries (up 1.64% to Rs 272.55), near-monopoly tobacco player ITC (up 0.98% to Rs 672.05) and largest bank by assets State Bank of India (up 0.68% to Rs 281.45) contributed to the recovery of the Sensex from the lower levels.

Oil refining PSU HPCL (up 2.60% to Rs 278.10) advanced, after Friday's weakness. The HPCL stock shed over 5% on Friday after some constituents of the ruling NDA government, including the Shiv Sena, joined the Opposition in its demand that the government should seek parliamentary approval prior to proceeding with the sale of HPCL.

Other Old Economy pivotals Telco (up 1.32% to Rs 153), Tata Steel (up 1.33% to Rs 129.75), Castrol India (up 0.76% to Rs 192.40), Bhel (up 0.55% to Rs 227.50), Gujarat Ambuja Cements (up 0.52% to Rs 165), Hero Honda (up 0.61% to Rs 197.40) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.55% to Rs 481.40) held gains on renewed buying interest.

Cipla (down 10.89% to Rs 625) plunged after the company announced disappointing quarterly results on Friday. For the quarter ended 31 March 2003, the Mumbai-based pharma major posted a net profit of Rs 46.73 crore (Rs 61.71 crore) on total income of Rs 399.20 crore (Rs 396.36 crore). For the year ended 31 March 2003, the company posted a net profit of Rs 247.48 crore (Rs 235.12 crore) on total income of Rs 1,598.25 crore (Rs 1,428.87 crore).

Domestic pharma majors Dr Reddy's Labs (down 3.62% to Rs 872.15) and Ranbaxy Labs (down 2.55% to Rs 649.30) were infected by the weakness in Cipla.

Tech pivotal HCL Tech (down 10.50% to Rs 140.20) proved subdued following disappointing quarterly results. For the quarter ended 31 March 2003, the New Delhi-based Shiv Nadar group flagship posted a net profit of Rs 79.85 crore (Rs 131.74 crore) on total income of Rs 465.81 crore (Rs 408.99 crore).

Software major Satyam Computer (down 3.14% to Rs 158.85) and Infosys Tech (down 0.76% to Rs 2,893.20) were low-key following HCL Tech's disappointing quarterly performance.

Largest media listing Zee Telefilms (down 1.10% to Rs 67.20) continued to move in a narrow range ahead of the announcement of quarterly results.

Pivotals ICICI Bank (down 1.24% to Rs 130.30), BSES (down 0.605 to Rs 216.05), MTNL (down 0.54% to Rs 92) and ACC (down 0.23% to Rs 128.20) were trading in negative territory.

Second-line tech stocks PSI Data Systems (down 5.38% to Rs 42.20), Zensar Tech (down 3.75% to Rs 69.30), Aftek Infosys (down 3.05% to Rs 189), Fortune Info (down 1.39% to Rs 38.95), Geometric Software (down 0.92% to Rs 393.35), Ramco Systems (down 0.43% to Rs 397.20), Sonata Software (down 0.39% to Rs 12.65), Mastek (down 0.29% to Rs 305.40) and KPIT Cummins Info (down 0.14% to Rs 141.50) lost in varying degrees.

Others like HCL Info (up 2.92% to Rs 104), Nucleus Soft (up 1.74% to Rs 70), MphasiS BFL (up 1.44% to Rs 550), VisualSoft (up 1.29% to Rs 138.85), Tata Elxsi (up 1.24% to Rs 69.15), e-Serve Int'l (up 1.11% to Rs 427.35), Tata Infotech (up 0.71% to Rs 141.50), Geodesic Info (up 0.62% to Rs 73) and Blue Star Info (up 0.41% to Rs 111.05) all moved upstream.

Oriental Bank of Commerce (up 9.91% to Rs 82.10) leaped up after reports that the bank will pay Rs 50 crore to the Union Government as a move to reduce its share capital. 4.75 lakh OBC shares were traded on BSE so far.

Other PSU banks Bank of Baroda (up 5.69% to Rs 85.50), Punjab National Bank (up 5.34% to Rs 117.20), Syndicate Bank (up 4.82% to Rs 21.75), Corporation Bank (up 3.42% to Rs 145), Bank of India (up 3.05% to Rs 40.60), Vijaya Bank (up 2.97% to Rs 17.35), Canara Bank (up 2.94% to Rs 87.40), Indian Overseas Bank (up 2.63% to Rs 19.50), Andhra Bank (up 2.54% to Rs 30.30), Union Bank (up 2.62% to Rs 27.40), Dena Bank (up 1.82% to Rs 14) and State Bank of Bikaner (up 0.98% to Rs 585) made headway.

J & K Bank (up 6.69% to Rs 146.70) sprang forth, touching its life-time high of Rs 150.50, on hopes that the bank may announce a liberal bonus along with its quarterly numbers next week.

IDBI Bank (up 4.52% to Rs 24.30) was trading steady ahead of the announcement of quarterly results today.

Other private sector banking stocks Bank of Rajasthan (up 6.15% to Rs 17.25), Centurion Bank (up 5.47% to Rs 10.60), Federal Bank (up 2.71% to Rs 98.50), UTI Bank (up 2.50% to Rs 45.15), Karnataka Bank (up 3.47% to Rs 56.70), United Western Bank (up 1.24% to Rs 20.35), City Union Bank (up 1.14% to Rs 40), ING Vysya Bank (up 1.12% to Rs 242.95), Karur Vysya Bank (up 1.04% to Rs 178.95) and IndusInd Bank (up 0.85% to Rs 17.85) moved up on renewed buying interest after a recent fall from the higher levels.

Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.58% to Rs 143.20), HDFC Bank (down 0.41% to Rs 243.40), Bank of Punjab (down 0.32% to Rs 15.75) and South Indian Bank (down 0.12% to Rs 40.20) were trading lower on selling pressure.

Source: www.capitalmarket.com