The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 17 points at 4,841, and touched a high of 4,879 on buying in tech, cement and auto scrips. Selling commenced towards late noon, and intensified in the last half-hour of trading. After dipping to a low of 4,763, the Sensex improved a notch and finally closed with a loss of 52 points at 4,771.

While 24 index scrips declined, six managed some gains today. The traded volume and value of the Sensex stocks totalled 2.88 crore and Rs 1,062 crore, respectively.

Reliance lost more than 2% (Rs 11) to Rs 450. HLL declined Rs 2 to Rs 177. ITC dropped Rs 12 to Rs 860.

SBI slipped more than 2% (Rs 10) to Rs 450. ONGC, BHEL and MTNL also finished with losses.

Infosys slipped towards the close, and finished with a loss of more than a per cent (Rs 49) at Rs 4,612. Wipro was down nearly a per cent (Rs 13) at Rs 1,400. Satyam, however, was up Rs 3 at Rs 314.

BSES declined nearly 5% (Rs 21) to Rs 428. Tata Power was down Rs 8 at Rs 254. Tisco also lost Rs 8 to Rs 336.

Dr. Reddy's bucked the downtrend, and finished with a gain of more than a per cent (Rs 16) at Rs 1,236. Ranbaxy was down Rs 10 at Rs 984. Cipla also finished on a weak note.

Gujarat Ambuja was up Rs 3 at Rs 274. Grasim dropped Rs 8 to Rs 830. L&T and ACC also declined.

Hero Honda was firm right through the session, and gained Rs 4 to Rs 381. Tata Motors and Bajaj could not hold intra-day gains, and finished in negative zones.

HDFC added Rs 7 to Rs 525. Hindalco was up Rs 13 at Rs 1,175.

Tech scrips finished on a mixed note. i-flex, which announced a deal with IBM today, gained 2% (Rs 16) to Rs 705. Moser Baer was up a per cent at Rs 558. Digital was also up nearly a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 575.

Polaris was down 4% (Rs 7) at Rs 153. igate was also down 4% (Rs 11) at Rs 230. NIIT declined 4% (Rs 7) to Rs 196.

PSU stocks were largely weak today. BEML slipped nearly 5% (Rs 10) to Rs 203. National Fertilisers was also down 5% at Rs 38. SAIL, BPCL and BEL also declined.