The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 14 points at 3,907, and touched a high of 3,939 in early morning deals.

Profit-taking at higher levels saw the index shed gains, but move in a narrow positive range till late noon deals. A bout of selling in tech scrips saw the index dip into negative zone, and touch a low of 3,879. With heavyweights like Infosys paring losses towards the close, the Sensex finally closed with a loss of four points at 3,889.

While 18 index scrips declined, 12 advanced today. The traded volume and value of the Sensex shares totalled 2.73 crore and Rs 775 crore, respectively. Declining shares, however, clocked huge volume and value of 1.82 crore and Rs 605 crore, respectively - a clear indication of selling pressure today.

Infosys declined 2% (Rs 72) to Rs 3,404. HCL dropped nearly 3% (Rs 5) to Rs 168. Satyam was also down 3% (Rs 7) at Rs 197.

Grasim was down a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 579. ACC, Gujarat Ambuja and L&T also declined.

Heavyweights were divergent. Reliance was down Rs 5 at Rs 356. SBI lost Rs 4 to Rs 428. ITC gained Rs 4 to Rs771. HLL was up a rupee at Rs 172.

Cipla and Dr. Reddy's were down a per cent each at Rs 859 and Rs 1,049, respectively. Glaxo and Ranbaxy, however, finished with marginal gains.

BHEL was firm right through the session, and closed with a gain of Rs 11 at Rs 304. MTNL gained nearly 4% (Rs 5) to Rs 124.

HDFC zoomed 5.5% (Rs 25) to Rs 479. ICICI Bank added 3% (Rs 5) to Rs 159. Zee gained Rs 4 to Rs 119.

Steel scrips had another gainful outing today. Jindal Steel zoomed 8% (Rs 47) to Rs 608. SAIL gained 7% to Rs 34 on another day of huge volumes. The counter saw trades in over 1.91 crore shares for Rs 65 crore. Essar Steel gained 3% to Rs 23. Mukand was up a notch at Rs 27. Tisco, however, was down a rupee at Rs 236.

Oil PSUs were weak today. IBP declined 4% (Rs 24) to Rs 621. ONGC declined 2% (Rs 11) to Rs 535. IOC was also down 2% (Rs 10) at Rs 523. BPCL slipped Rs 5 to Rs 280.

Tech stocks also closed in negative zones. Wipro dropped 2% (Rs 21) to Rs 923. i-flex and Mastek were also down 2% each at Rs 1,114 (down Rs 24) and Rs 202 (down Rs 4), respectively. Digital was down a per cent at Rs 459.

Dredging Corporation hit an intra-day high of Rs 429 after the government announced plans to hire advisors for divesting 20% stake in the company. The stock finally closed with a gain of 7% (Rs 26) at Rs 389.

Maruti hit a new high of Rs 212 in intra-day deals, and finished with a gain of 4% (Rs 8) at Rs 211.