Pharma Counters Soar; Sensex Up 9 Points

The 30-stock Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex) shrugged off an early weakness induced by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's poor performance in the just-concluded assembly elections and closed moderately higher.

Volumes dropped marginally, even as gainers outnumbered the losers. The Sensex settled 9.43 points higher at 3,613.51 points.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the S&P CNX Nifty index gained 1.95 points at 1,165.95. Pharmaceutical stocks were in the limelight on defensive buying ahead of the Union Budget.

Ranbaxy Labs (up 5.04 per cent to Rs 884.25), Dr Reddy's (up 2.27 per cent to Rs 1,011.55), GlaxoSmithKline (up 0.85 per cent to Rs 343.90) and Cipla (up 0.46 per cent to Rs 1,066.30) were firm on buying by domestic brokerage houses.

Among second line stocks, Alembic (up 9.77 per cent to Rs 104.50) firmed up on sustained buying, while Torrent Pharma (up 15.10 per cent at Rs 243.90) touched a new 52-week high of Rs 251.70 during intraday trades.

However, heavyweight counters such as ITC (down 3.10 per cent to Rs 726.35), Hindustan Lever (down 0.58 per cent to Rs 239.10), ICICI (down 0.94 per cent to Rs 68.20) and Reliance Petroleum (down 0.33 per cent to Rs 29.90) remained weak.

But, Tata Engineering (up 2.89 per cent to Rs 140.65) bucked the trend and remained firm on hopes of higher Indica exports.

Stocks of MTNL (down 2.50 per cent to Rs 154) and Bhel (down 1.81 per cent to Rs 173.25) ended lower on fears that the government's divestment programme could hit a roadblock.

However, Hindustan Petroleum (up 3.94 per cent at Rs 258.45) bounced back from a low of Rs 246.50 on renewed buying.

Technology stocks displayed a mixed trend. HCL Tech (up 1.98 per cent to Rs 260.70), Infosys Tech (up 0.82 per cent to Rs 3,747.55) and Satyam Computer (up 0.81 per cent to Rs 280.30) ended firm on selective buying following Friday's gains in the US markets.

Frontline stocks such as Polaris Soft (Rs 185.85), SSI (Rs 202.55), Wipro (Rs 1,045.35) and NIIT (Rs 229.10) ended lower on selling pressure.

Infotech Enterprises (up 9.05 per cent at Rs 615.85) touched a new 52-week high of Rs 635 during intraday trades.