The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 33 points at 5,096 and touched an intra day high of 5,135. The index did languish in negative territory for a little while but bounced back due to all round buying.

Steady gains marked the afternoon session in the markets. The Sensex finally finished with a marginal gain of 35 points at 5,098. The Nifty too closed with a gain of 12 points at 1614.

Heavyweights had a divergent day today. While Reliance was down 1.7%(Rs 8)at 490, HLL was up 1.5% (Rs 3)at 185 and ITC ended up 1.5% (Rs 14) at 899.

Techies had a very good outing on the back of a good closing in the US markets. While Satyam vaulted nearly 7% to 340, Infosys was up marginally (Rs 22) at 5007. HCL Tech ended 1.6% (Rs 4)higher at 239.

It was a mixed day as far as the PSUs scrips were concerned. While HPCL was up 1% to 331, SBI was up 2% to 484. MTNL was up marginally to 112 while BHEL was down 1% to 479.

Pharma scrips had a mixed outing as well. While Dr.Reddy's zoomed 8% (Rs 103) to 1415, Cipla was down nearly 3% (Rs 35) at 1207. Ranbaxy was up 1.7% (Rs 17) at 1,012.

Auto and cement stocks ended the day on a mixed note as well.