The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 10 points at 3,631, and moved between the day's high (3,645) and low (3,607) in early morning deals.

The index was trapped in a narrow range thereafter - switching between positive and negative zones. Though select auto, cement, pharma and PSUs bucked the negative trend, the Sensex slipped on selling pressure in heavyweights like Reliance, HLL & ITC.

The index finally finished with a loss of 10 points at 3,612. The Nifty, however, ended in positive zone at 1,140 - up two points.

While 16 Sensex stocks advanced, 14 declined on Monday. The traded volume and value of the index scrips were lower at 1.29 crore and Rs 390.26 crore, respectively.

Heavyweights ended in negative territory. HLL dropped 2% (Rs 3) to Rs 168. ITC and Reliance ended on a weak note at Rs 765 and Rs 328 - down Rs 5 each.

Pharma pivotals ended on a mixed note. Cipla, after touching the day's high of Rs 831, pared gains on profit-taking. The stock, however, finished up a per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 815. Glaxo added Rs 6 to Rs 377. Dr. Reddy's shed ground towards the fag-end and ended 3% down (Rs 40) at Rs 1,129. Ranbaxy lost Rs 4 to Rs 830.

PSU and cement scrips, too, ended on a mixed note. SBI and HPCL closed up a tad each at Rs 388 and Rs 358, respectively. BHEL at Rs 280 (down a rupee) and MTNL at Rs 116 ended on a subdued note.

Grasim, after trading in and out of positive zone, finished with a gain of Rs 2 at Rs 500. ACC closed up a rupee at Rs 170. L&T at Rs 254 and Gujarat Ambuja at Rs 202 were down Rs 2 each.

Techs were largely weak. Infosys languished in negative territory and ended marginally lower (Rs 6) at Rs 3,092. HCL Tech closed down a tad at Rs 146. Satyam, however, closed up a notch at Rs 187.

Auto stocks finished with gains. Telco moved up 3% (Rs 7) to Rs 212. Bajaj traded in positive zone and gained Rs 4 to Rs 576. Hero Honda, however, closed down a rupee at Rs 256 after trading in positive zone for better part of the trading session.

Hindalco, on hopes of an increase in aluminium price after Canada-based Alcan's hostile, $3.88 billion bid for Pechiney, gained 3% (Rs 22) to Rs 745. HDFC was also up 3% (Rs 12) at Rs 415. ICICI Bank ended in the green at Rs 150. While Tisco added 2% (Rs 3) to Rs 175, Zee closed down a rupee at Rs 95.

Bank stocks logged sharp gains today. UTI Bank hit the upper circuit of 20% (Rs 11) at Rs 64 on renewed talks of being bought out by a bigger bank. J&K Bank advanced 7% (Rs 15) to Rs 240. BoB and Vijaya Bank clocked 5% gains each to Rs 135 (up Rs 6) and Rs 21, respectively. Andhra Bank (up 4% to Rs 34), BoI (up 3% to Rs 50) and Kotak Bank (2% to Rs 168) also finished in the gainers list. Canara Bank, however, lost 2% (Rs 3) to Rs 103. Federal Bank was down a per cent at Rs 149.

PSU scrips finished at higher levels. IOC moved up 4% (Rs 17) to Rs 422. BPCL closed up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 295. ONGC closed up a tad at Rs 493. IBP, however, dropped 3% (Rs 18) to Rs 590.

ITI spurted 15% (Rs 3) to Rs 25, and Dredging Corporation added 14% (Rs 45) to Rs 362. EIL and Nalco surged 5% each to Rs 330 (up Rs 17) and Rs 117 (up Rs 5), respectively.

Tech majors displayed mixed trends. Wipro, after touching the day's low of Rs 894, bounced on buying support and finished 2% higher (Rs 18) at Rs 919. i-flex and Mphasis BFL closed up a per cent each at Rs 1,024 (up Rs 9) and Rs 330 (up Rs 3), respectively. Digital, however, was down Rs 2 at Rs 419. Mastek and Hughes were down a tad each at Rs 283 and Rs 220, respectively.