Gains on Wall Street on Tuesday saw the Sensex open with a positive gap of nine points at 3,613. Buying in cement and pharma stocks saw the index surge to an intra-day high of 3,641.

After moving in a narrow range for better part of the trading session, the Sensex slipped into red in late afternoon deals on selling pressure in techs, particularly Infosys. The Sensex finally finished with a loss of three points at 3,601. The Nifty, however, ended three points up at 1,134.

While 19 Sensex stocks advanced, 11 declined today. The traded volume and value of the index scrips totalled 1.96 crore and Rs 567.27 crore, respectively.

Pharma majors continued rally for the second day. Cipla and Glaxo ended up 4% at Rs 780 (up Rs 32) and Rs 389 (up Rs 17), respectively. Ranbaxy was up Rs 5 at Rs 803. Dr. Reddy's, however, traded on a mixed note and ended in the losers list at Rs 1,091 - down Rs 6.

Cement pivotals displayed positive trends. Grasim held on to gains and finished firm at Rs 509 - up Rs 8 or 2%. L&T was also up 2% (Rs 6) at Rs 249. Gujarat Ambuja and ACC closed up a rupee each at Rs 201 and Rs 165, respectively.

PSU frontliners ended with sharp gains. MTNL advanced 4% (Rs 4) to Rs 117. SBI logged 2% gains (Rs 7) to Rs 390. HPCL was up marginally (Rs 2) at Rs 346. BHEL, however, slipped on profit-taking towards the fag-end to close at Rs 277 - down Rs 3.

Heavyweights were divergent. ITC traded in a narrow range and gained Rs 4 to Rs 758. Reliance ended marginally higher at Rs 327. HLL, however, closed down a per cent (Rs 2) at Rs 177.

Auto majors largely finished with gains. Telco flared up 2% (Rs 5) to Rs 205. Hero Honda, which reported a 9% sales growth for the first quarter yesterday, was up a rupee at Rs 252. Bajaj, however, finished on a dismal note with a loss of Rs 6 at Rs 561.

Tech stocks were battered today. Infosys slipped towards close, and shed 4% (Rs 146) to Rs 3,159 on selling pressure. Satyam and HCL Tech dipped 2% each (Rs 3) to Rs 188 and Rs 149, respectively.

Zee soared 5% (Rs 4) to Rs 94. Castrol gained 4% (Rs 7) to Rs 211. Tisco was up Rs 3 at Rs 173. HDFC, however, dropped 3% (Rs 14) to Rs 385. ICICI Bank also finished with a loss of 3% (Rs 4) at Rs 145.

Media stocks closed with sharp gains today. Padmalaya zoomed 16% (Rs 11) to Rs 81. Mukta Arts advanced 8% (Rs 4) to Rs 56 on sustained buying interest. Balaji Telefilms gained 4% (Rs 3) to Rs 69. Sri Adhikari Brothers was up 3% (Rs 2) at Rs 80.

Tech majors ended with steep loses. Wipro slumped 3% (Rs 26) to Rs 910. SSI dropped 6% (Rs 6) to Rs 106. Geometric shed 4% (Rs 15) to Rs 364. Hughes Software ended 3% lower (Rs 8) at Rs 218. Digital and Mastek also slumped 3% each to Rs 428 (down Rs 11) and Rs 283 (down Rs 8), respectively. Moser Baer, however, gained 6% (Rs 22) to Rs 371.

PSU stocks were largely weak today. ONGC and IOC closed down a per cent at Rs 476 (down Rs 6) and Rs 399 (down Rs 5), respectively. EIL & Dredging Corporation lost 2% each to Rs 316 and Rs 312, respectively. BPCL, however, closed up a tad at Rs 282.