Last-minute purchases in technology and defensive sector stocks negated losses in heavyweights on Wednesday.
The Bombay Stock Exchange sensex settled with a marginal gain of 1.53 points at 3,099.38, after hitting an intra-day high of 3,103.38 and an intra-day low of 3078.13. However, the broader National Stock Exchange S&P CNX Nifty index ended down 2.00 points at 985.70.
A dealer at a local brokerage said, "The market remained cautious ahead of the maturity of derivatives contracts."
However, as some positions have already been unwound the bourses are unlikely to witness sharp swings on Thursday, the last day for expiry of August stock futures.
Information technology major Satyam Computer rallied 3.65 per cent to Rs 227.15. The share recovered from the day's low of Rs 215.50 on renewed buying amid rumours of huge short positions in the futures in the stock. Infosys Technologies bounced back from a low of Rs 3,374 to Rs 3,448.85, but settled at Rs 3,429.05, up 0.19 per cent over its Tuesday's close. HCL Technologies advanced 4.18 per cent to Rs 196.80 on renewed buying.
Shares in state-run refiners pared early gains after a government official said the privatisation panel was likely to meet only in early September. Bharat Petroleum Corporation ended up 1.2 per cent at Rs 285.60 and Hindustan Petroleum inched up 0.21 percent to Rs 279.75.
Meanwhile, other key state owned firms such as State Trading Corporation (up 4.65 per cent to Rs 127.20), Shipping Corporation (up 2.64 per cent to Rs 77.85) and Container Corporation (up 2.01 per cent to Rs 263.55) ended with modest gains on divestment hopes.
Elsewhere, heavyweights including FMCG major Hindustan Lever shed 0.91 per cent to Rs 179.75. Cigarettes-to-hotels major ITC gained 0.78 per cent to Rs 681.70 on sustained fund-based buying. Other consumer stocks such as Colgate-Palmolive (up 0.44 per cent to Rs 137.30) and Nestle India (up 0.73 per cent to Rs 557.50) rose on renewed buying.
Defensive pharma stocks also bucked the weak sentiment. Sector pivots such as Cipla (up 1.25 per cent to Rs 939.05), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.55 per cent to Rs 374) and Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.04 per cent to Rs 872.15) ended higher on selective buying.
Other new economy front-runners also firmed up. Hughes Software (up 1.98 per cent to Rs 151.60), Polaris Software (up 0.47 per cent to Rs 193.10), Mascot Systems (up 0.40 per cent to Rs 162.25) and Digital GlobalSoft (up 0.11 per cent to Rs 584.85) settled in positive zone on selective buying.
However, i-flex solutions (down 2.38 per cent to Rs 510.05), NIIT (down 0.67 per cent to Rs 140.45), Wipro (down 0.36 per cent to Rs 1,178.05) and SSI (down 0.04 per cent to Rs 118.45) finished lower on selling pressure.
