After opening with a gain of 9 points at 5,040, the index soon touched a high of 5,060 on selective buying support. Buying was steady in select stocks, and the index displayed range-bound (positive territory) trend till mid-noon deals.

The Sensex, however, lost ground towards the closing bell as selling in heavyweights, techs, pharma and cement stocks dragged it to a low of 4,998. It finally closed with a loss of 25 points at 5,006.

The Nifty, however, added 3 points to close at 1,604.

While 13 Sensex stocks advanced, 17 declined on Wednesday. The traded volume and value of the index scrips totalled 2.71 crore (27.1 million) and Rs 1,052.18 crore (Rs 10.52 billion), respectively.

ITC at Rs 847 (down Rs 19 or 2%) and HLL at Rs 182 (down a rupee) ended at lower levels on selling pressure. Reliance, however, closed up a rupee at Rs 483. The counter clocked a volume of over 24 lakh (2.4 million) on the BSE today.

BHEL traded off-highs, but closed up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 461. MTNL gained Rs 2 to Rs 114. HPCL slipped from higher levels and ended off-gains at Rs 338 - down Rs 4. SBI closed down a tad at Rs 478.

Infosys witnessed selling through the session, and ended with a loss of 2% (Rs 99) at Rs 4,850. Satyam, however, bounced from its lows and moved up 2% (Rs 5) to Rs 330. Nearly 66 lakh (6.6 million) shares were traded on the BSE today. Wipro, too, managed to end in the gainers list at Rs 1,454 (up Rs 7) after trading weak for better part of the trading session.

Grasim (down 3% or Rs 32 to Rs 913), Gujarat Ambuja (down 2% or Rs 6 to Rs 281) and ACC (down 3% or Rs 7 to Rs 235) witnessed heavy selling. L&T, however, ended with gains at Rs 418 - up Rs 7 or 2%.

Dr. Reddy's dropped 3% (Rs 41) to Rs 1,278. Ranbaxy declined nearly 2% (Rs 15) to Rs 998. Cipla, however, ended with gains at Rs 1,170 - up Rs 7.

Hero Honda logged gains on sustained buying support to finish nearly 4% higher (Rs 13) at Rs 383. Bajaj and Tata Motors traded on a steady note to close up a per cent (Rs 5) each at Rs 926 and Rs 374, respectively. More than 20 lakh (2 million) Tata Motors shares changed hands on the BSE for Rs 76 crore (Rs 760 million).

Hindalco (down Rs 32 or 3% to Rs 1,203), ONGC (down Rs 5 to Rs 660), HDFC Bank (down Rs 9 or 3% to Rs 299) and Bharti Tele (down Rs 2 or 3% to Rs 85) ended on a lacklustre note.

Tisco and Tata Power were down Rs 2 each at Rs 364 and Rs 262, respectively. Over 26 lakh (2.6 million) Tisco shares were traded on the BSE with a turnover of Rs 97 crore (Rs 970 million).

HDFC rose sharply on steep buying support, and advanced 4% (Rs 20) to Rs 533. Zee closed up a rupee at Rs 142.

Moser Baer added 5% (Rs 29) to Rs 577. Digital and Mastek gained nearly 2% each to Rs 576 (up Rs 9) and Rs 241 (up Rs 4), respectively. Hughes, too, moved up nearly 2% (Rs 7) to Rs 453. i-flex and Mphasis, however, were down 2% each at Rs 671 (down Rs 13) and Rs 540 (down Rs 10), respectively.

IBP lost nearly 3% (Rs 22) to Rs 814. BPCL slipped 2% (Rs 9) to Rs 358. IOC, however, gained 2% (Rs 7) to Rs 402.

Saregama shot up 6% (Rs 3) to Rs 53. While Balaji Telefilms was up 3% to Rs 74, Sri Adhikari closed up a notch at Rs 66. Mukta Arts, however, dipped nearly 3% (Rs 2) to Rs 60. Padmalaya Telefilms was down a tad at Rs 89.

India Cement rallied sharply on sustained buying support, and spurted 12% (Rs 5) to Rs 43. Over 52 lakh (5.2 million) shares were traded on the BSE today.