Heavyweights Soar

The 30-stock Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex) closed 21 points higher at 3,581.32 today.

Dealers said, "Most investors were busy settling annual accounts. This coupled with the absence of foreign fund activity led to a decline in trading volumes."

Besides, today was the last trading day for which payout would take place in the current fiscal. Trades executed on Wednesday will be settled on March 28, with March 29 and next Monday being market holidays.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the S&P CNX Nifty Index gained 3.45 points to settle at 1,155.60.

Heavyweight counters such as Hindustan Lever (up 1.65 per cent to Rs 236.65), Reliance Industries (up 1.40 per cent to Rs 303.85), Reliance Petroleum (up 0.75 per cent to Rs 27) and ITC (up 0.81 per cent to Rs 716.65) bounced back on renewed buying interest.

Two-wheeler majors Hero Honda Motors (up 2.67 per cent to Rs 361.40) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.37 per cent to Rs 487.65) also gained ground.

But, Tata Engineering (Rs 128.90) and Tata Steel (Rs 100.10) ended lower on selling pressure.

Defensive pharma stocks such as Cipla (down 1.06 per cent to Rs 1,022), GlaxoSmithKline (down 0.42 per cent to Rs 345.40) and Dr Reddy's (down 0.16 per cent to Rs 1,058.50) also lost ground.

However, Aventis Pharma (up 5.95 per cent to Rs 387) rose on impressive corporate reports.

Among side counters, Vysya Bank (up 6.68 per cent to Rs 249.95) bounced back on talks that Bank Brussels Lambart (BBL) might raise its holding in the bank.

However, Kochi Refineries (down 8.46 per cent to Rs 55.20) lost ground on profit booking after recent gains.

Frontline technology stocks remained subdued, while selective activity was observed in second-line IT stocks.

Infosys Technologies (down 0.97 per cent to Rs 3,905.40) remained weak on selling pressure. However, HCL Tech (up 1.81 per cent to Rs 281.90) and Satyam Computer (up 0.41 per cent to Rs 284.95) ended in the positive zone.

Aftek Infosys (up 5.37 per cent to Rs 482.75) spurted on reports that the company is planning to raise $15 million through GDR/ADRs.

D-Link India (up 4 per cent to Rs 78.40) witnessed huge volumes on sustained buying interest.