The Sensex opened with a positive gap of eight points at 3,801. Selling in select old and new economy stocks saw the index slip to an intra-day low of 3,780 in early morning deals.

A sharp rally in tech, auto and cement stocks in late afternoon deals saw the index spurt to an intra-day high of 3,832. Though profit-taking did happen at higher levels, the Sensex finally settled with a gain of 23 points at 3,815.

While 17 Sensex stocks advanced, 13 declined today. The traded volume and value of the index scrips totalled 2.61 crore and Rs 832.45 crore, respectively.

Tech stocks were firm today. The successful listing of the sponsored ADSs on Nasdaq yesterday saw Infosys surge 5% (Rs 191) to Rs 3,784. Over four lakh shares were traded on BSE today with a turnover of Rs 164 crore. HCL Tech rose 3% (Rs 5) to Rs 168. Satyam, too, traded in positive zone, and moved up 2% (Rs 3) to Rs 207.

Cement majors perked up on sustained buying support. Grasim raked in 4% gains (Rs 24) to Rs 566. ACC finished firm with a gain of 4% (Rs 8) at Rs 202. Gujarat Ambuja ended 3% higher (Rs 6) at Rs 233. L&T, however, traded off gains and dropped 2% (Rs 7) to Rs 286 after reporting a 11% drop in July shipments.

Auto pivotals ended with steep gains. Telco advanced nearly 6% (Rs 13) to Rs 239. Hero Honda, which reported a 5% increase in July sales at 1,43,141 units as against 1,36,360 bikes sold in July 2002, registered 2% gains (Rs 6) to Rs 272. Bajaj reported a 27% increase in July motorcycle sales at 77,966 units from 61,485 units sold in July 2002. The stock, after a weak opening, rolled back into positive zone in afternoon trades, and finished up a per cent (Rs 9) at Rs 646.

Heavyweights and PSU frontliners ended at lower levels.

HLL came off the day's high of Rs 173, and ended nearly 2% lower (Rs 3) at Rs 168. More than nine lakh shares changed hands on BSE with a turnover of Rs 15 crore. Reliance, too, ended on a sluggish note at Rs 355 - down Rs 3. ITC, however, added Rs 4 to Rs 721.

SBI was down a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 418. HPCL and BHEL ended marginally lower at Rs 322 and Rs 263, respectively.

MTNL, following its impressive quarterly results announced yesterday, vaulted 9% (Rs 11) to Rs 126. More than 30 lakh shares were traded on BSE with a turnover of Rs 37 crore.

Pharma majors displayed negative trends. Dr. Reddy's, after the lower-than-expected quarterly results announced yesterday, dropped 5% (Rs 56) to Rs 1,093.

Cipla slipped from higher levels to finish with a loss of 2% (Rs 16) at Rs 805. Ranbaxy and Glaxo, too, were down Rs 2 each at Rs 809 and Rs 412, respectively.

Tisco advanced 3% (Rs 6) to Rs 214. HDFC firmed up on buying support to finish with a gain of 2% (Rs 10) at Rs 422. BSES at Rs 285 (up Rs 6) and ICICI Bank at Rs 162 (up Rs 4) also ended with 2% gains. Nestle, however, slumped 4% (Rs 22) to Rs 547 on sustained selling pressure. Zee lost 2% (Rs 2) to Rs 119.

Tech stocks ended on a firm note. Wipro advanced 5% (Rs 47) to Rs 990. Digital gained 4% (Rs 20) to Rs 480. While Hughes rose 3% (Rs 10) to Rs 310, Mastek added 2% (Rs 5) to Rs 207. Mphasis, too, was up 2% (Rs 8) at Rs 350. i-flex, after touching the day's high of Rs 1,210, slipped on selling pressure to finish with a loss of 4% (Rs 43) at Rs 1,134.

Oil PSUs largely finished with gains today. BPCL notched up 3% gains (Rs 8) to Rs 273. IBP closed up a per cent (Rs 8) at Rs 574. ONGC finished with a marginal gain of Rs 2 at Rs 456. IOC, however, closed down a tad at Rs 433.

Lupin, which reported a 38% increase in net profit at Rs 28.06 croe for the quarter ended June 30, 2003 as against Rs 20.28 crore in Q1FY03, was up 4% (Rs 15) at Rs 385.