Pharma Scrips Rise

The 30-stock Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex) today finished 11.21 points higher at 3,580.83. Dealers said, market participants preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of Friday's showdown in Ayodhya.

On the National Stock Exchange, the S&P CNX Nifty Index gained 2.40 points to close at 1,159.45. The volume of trade dropped significantly on both the exchanges.

Two-wheeler majors such as Hero Honda Motors (up 5.63 per cent to Rs 365.20) and Bajaj Auto (up 1.99 per cent to Rs 498.95) gained on institutional bargain hunting.

Defensive buying continued in pharma stocks. GlaxoSmithKline (up 3.21 per cent to Rs 353.50) rose on reports that the country's largest pharma company by market share had rationalised its distribution network in an attempt to cut costs and shore up margins.

Ranbaxy (up 1.18 per cent to Rs 886.20) gained ground after a US court ruled against GlaxoSmithKline Plc in a generic drug case, which, analysts feel will benefit the Indian firm.

Other pharma counters such as Cipla (up 0.74 per cent to Rs 1,019.55) and Dr Reddy's (up 0.06 per cent to Rs 1,074) also finished in the positive zone on defensive buying.

Among multinational pharma stocks, Parke-Davis (up 5.89 per cent to Rs 166.25) and Pfizer (up 1.29 per cent to Rs 441.10) improved after both the companies announced their results.

Reliance Industries (up 1.40 per cent to Rs 297.55) and Reliance Petroleum (up 0.38 per cent to Rs 26.75) closed with modest gains.

FMCG giant, Hindustan Lever (Rs 239) ended the day with marginal gains, while ITC (Rs 716) closed with marginal losses.

Among side counters, Bata India (up 6.74 per cent to Rs 42.75) advanced on hopes that its Canadian parent may make an open offer to raise its stake in the company.

IDBI Bank (up 10.84 per cent to Rs 22.50) spurted on reports that IDBI agreed to give a no-merger letter to the bank.

Trent (Rs 102.05) hit 20 per cent upper limit of the circuit breaker on renewed buying.

Technology stocks remained weak. Satyam Computer (up 0.18 per cent to Rs 281.60) recovered from a low of Rs 277.20.

However, HCL Technologies (down 2.29 per cent to Rs 281.50) and Infosys Technologies (down 0.15 per cent to Rs 4,044.10) lost ground on selling pressure.

Second-tier stocks such as Mindteck (Rs 56.25) and Melstar (Rs 25.70) were frozen at 20 per cent upper limit of the circuit breaker on speculative buying.

But, Hughes Software (down 7.15 per cent to Rs 347.50), Wipro (down 0.75 per cent to Rs 1,759.05) and SSI (down 0.24 per cent to Rs 185.15) ended lower on selling pressure.