Stocks of medium-sized software companies rallied in a lacklustre market on Thursday on good buying support from operators as well as institutions.

Mascot Systems (up 12.75% to Rs 109.20), Aftek Infosys (up 5.47% to Rs 211), CMC (up 3.32% to Rs 518.25), Mastek (up 4.05% to Rs 327.50), Polaris (up 2.88% to Rs 133.85), Kale Consultants (up 1.59% to Rs 28.80), NIIT (up 1.85% to Rs 129.65), Geometric (up 1.25% to Rs 397.50), KPIT Infosystems (up 0.97% to Rs 155.40) and Infotech Enterprises (up 1.06% to Rs 110) were some of the gainers.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex, at 12:55 IST, stood at 2,963.24, down by 17.50 points.

Dealers said the mid-cap IT stocks may not hold on to their higher levels due to selling pressure at every rise. They said that traders were more active in these stocks rather than investors.

Also, the rise on these counters is due to stock-specific activity. For instance, Mascot, CMC and Kale Consultants rose on good buying support due to these companies' decent quarterly results. Polaris and Mastek rose due to their attractive valuations after being battered following dismal results of frontline companies like Infosys and Wipro.

As per market buzz, Alliance Capital was said to be active in stocks like Mastek and Polaris.

Frontline stocks like Infosys Technologies (down 0.42% to Rs 3,011), Wipro (down 0.79% to Rs 912.40) and Digital GlobalSoft (down 4.66% to Rs 572) rose while HCL Technologies (up 2.41% to Rs 142.30) and Satyam Computer (up 0.41% to Rs 171.70) posted gains on selective buying support from institutions as well as operators.