Sensex pares early gains to end 33 pts up

Enthused by a higher closing in US markets yesterday, the BSE benchmark index rose to the day's high of 18,705.19 in the morning. HCL Technologies' which announced a 78 per cent rise in profit for second quarter also aided market sentiment.

Brokers said the initial rise was also on the back of Finance Minister P Chidambaram's comments yesterday that Parliament must pass laws necessary for promoting economic reforms and boosting growth.

However, the index failed to sustain the momentum as RIL and TCS shares saw selling. Analysts said RIL counter came under pressure and closed 0.97 per cent down on weak earnings while TCS faced selling ahead of its results on Friday.

After falling to day's low of 18,535.37 on fresh selling by Foreign Institutional Investors, the 30-share Sensex closed with a small gain of 33.07 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 18,610.77. Yesterday, it had fallen by over 135 points.

Stocks including Infosys, Tata Power, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Mahindra, Larsen and Toubro, BHEL, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, ITC, HDFC and Sterlite Industries helped the Sensex end higher, said dealers.

"Markets opened with a gap on back of global cues, however, subdued domestic scenario resulted in some selling pressure from day