Gains on the Wall Street on Wednesday saw the Sensex open with a positive gap of 15 points at 3,616. The index slipped immediately on selling pressure in techs, particularly Infosys, and dipped to an intra-day low of 3,592. The index, however, bounced on buying in pharma stocks, notably Dr. Reddy's and Ranbaxy, and spurted to an intra-day high of 3,662. The Sensex finally finished 38 points higher at 3,640. The Nifty closed with a gain of 12 points at 1,146.

While 17 Sensex stocks advanced, 13 declined on Thursday. The traded volume and value of the index scrips were higher at 2.44 crore and Rs 827.44 crore, respectively.

The pharma majors finished with substantial gains. Dr. Reddy's spurted 9% (Rs 98) to Rs 1,189. Ranbaxy clocked 5% gains (Rs 38) to Rs 841. Cipla finished up a per cent (Rs 9) at Rs 788. Glaxo, however, traded on a weak note and fell sharply towards the fag end to close with a loss of 3% (Rs 12) at Rs 377.

The PSU frontliners displayed positive trends. SBI had a decent outing and moved up 2% (Rs 9) to Rs 399. HPCL traded on a steady note and finished with a gain of Rs 4 at Rs 350. While MTNL rose 2% to Rs 120, BHEL closed up a rupee at Rs 277.

Heavyweights ended on a divergent note. Reliance gained Rs 4 to Rs 331, and HLL was up a rupee at Rs 178. ITC, after trading in the positive zone for the better part of the trading session, fell towards the fag end and lost Rs 3 to Rs 756.

The techs bounced from lows to finish with small losses. Infosys recouped its lost ground after an early morning selling spree, but still finished down a per cent (Rs 37) at Rs 3,122. HCL Tech lacked buying support and ended 2% lower (Rs 3) at Rs 147. Satyam was down a rupee at Rs 186.

The cement stocks ended on a mixed note. Gujarat Ambuja and ACC gained 2% each to close at Rs 204 (up Rs 3) and Rs 169 (up Rs 4), respectively. Grasim, however, was down a per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 503. L&T was down a tad at Rs 249.

Auto pivotals were weak on the day. Bajaj finished on a lacklustre note with a loss of a per cent (Rs 8) at Rs 553. Telco, too, closed down a notch at Rs 204. Hero Honda, however, managed to gain ground and finished up a per cent (Rs 2) at Rs 254.

HDFC zoomed 8% (Rs 32) to Rs 417. ICICI Bank was up a rupee at Rs 146.

Banking stocks mopped up heavy gains on strong buying support. UTI Bank was forzen at its 20% (Rs 10) upper limit at Rs 58. HDFC Bank advanced 10% (Rs 26) to Rs 290. The stocks moved up on talks that HDFC Bank was on the verge of buying out UTI Bank. Both the banks, however, denied any such move.

The BoB advanced 17% (Rs 19) to Rs 133. While Syndicate Bank rose 12% (Rs 3) to Rs 27, Indian Overseas Bank moved up 8% (Rs 2) to Rs 24.

J&K Bank, Oriental Bank & Andhra Bank gained 7% each to Rs 223 (up Rs 16), Rs 164 (up Rs 11) and Rs 33 (up Rs 2), respectively. BOI, too, clocked 5% gains (Rs 3) to Rs 51.

The tech majors ended at lower levels. Moser Baer dropped 4% (Rs 16) to Rs 355. While NIIT lost 3% (Rs 4) to Rs 144, Mphasis BFL dipped 2% (Rs 8) to Rs 327. Digital closed down a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 425. Wipro and Mastek were down a tad each at Rs 910 and Rs 283, respectively. Hughes Software, however, ended up a notch at Rs 219.