Sensex leaps from lows; bank shares zoom

The Sensex opened on a strong note with a gain of 29 points at 6,203, but could not hold the gains. Sustained selling saw the index dip to a low of 6,087 - a decline of 87 points from the previous close.

Renewed buying at lower levels towards late noon saw the index bounce back strongly and zoom to a high of 6,233 - a rally of 146 points from the intra-day low.

The Sensex finally finished with a gain of 20 points at 6,194.

While 18 index scrips advanced with a volume of 85 lakh shares totalling Rs 439 crore, 12 declined with a volume of 1.05 crore for Rs 446 crore.

Heavyweights finished on a mixed note. Infosys bounced from lower levels to finish with a gain of over a per cent (Rs 23) at Rs 1,998. SBI moved up nearly 2% (Rs 10) at Rs 589. ITC, however, was down Rs 8 at Rs 1,246. Reliance was down Rs 2 at Rs 511.

ACC gained over 3% (Rs 13) to Rs 358. Gujarat Ambuja was up 2% (Rs 9) at Rs 434.

While Wipro advanced 2% (Rs 16) to Rs 683, Satyam was down marginally at Rs 361.

HDFC moved up nearly 3% (Rs 21) to Rs 754. L&T added Rs 10 to Rs 920.

Tata Power zoomed nearly 5% (Rs 16) to Rs 359. Reliance Energy gained 1.7% (Rs 8) to Rs 497.

Bajaj, which had dropped over 4% in intra-day deals, moved up 2% (Rs 23) to Rs 1,095.

Ranbaxy, which had plunged over 6% in intra-day deals, reversed trend and finished marginally higher at Rs 1,072. Dr. Reddy's was down 2% (Rs 15) at Rs 729.

Bank stocks attracted sustained buying interest, and the BSE Bankex gained over 1% to close at 3,502.

Coporation Bank zoomed over 9% (Rs 31) to Rs 362. Canara Bank advanced over 6% (Rs 13) to Rs 205. UTI Bank gained 4% (Rs 8) to Rs 197.

Bank of Rajasthan moved up over 5% to Rs 64. Andhra Bank, BoB, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, PNB, UBI, Oriental Bank and  also finished with gains.

South Indian Bank, Dhanalakshmi Bank, Bank of Punjab, Karnataka Bank and Centurion Bank gained over 4% each today.