The Sensex opened with a gain of seven points at 5,229. Early correction in many sectors saw the markets slip below the 5,200 levels to touch a low of 5,175.

The markets witnessed a sharp turnaround in mid-noon deals as sustained buying in heavyweights and other select old economy stocks lifted the index to a high of 5,252.

The Sensex, however, wiped out most of its gains towards the closing hours on selling pressure, and ended with a small gain of four points at 5,226. The Nifty, after a mixed outing, ended five points up at 1,675.

While 12 Sensex stocks advanced, 18 declined on Thursday. The total volume of shares traded and its value totalled 3.22 crore (32.2 million) and Rs 1,325.65 crore (Rs 13.26 billion), respectively.

ITC notched up significant gains to end 3% higher (Rs 24) at Rs 902. Reliance rallied sharply and clocked a 2% gain (Rs 12) at Rs 508, with a total volume over 74.34 lakh (7.43 million) on the BSE. HLL was up a per cent (Rs 2) at Rs 181.

HPCL held gains on sustained buying support, and advanced 3% (Rs 11) to Rs 394. While SBI slipped Rs 3 to Rs 470, MTNL lost Rs 2 to Rs 120. BHEL, after a mixed outing, ended down a tad at Rs 462.

Grasim (down Rs 13 to Rs 882), L&T (Rs 3 to Rs 409) and ACC (down Rs 2 to Rs 232) ended at subdued levels. Gujarat Ambuja, however, managed to end in the gainers list at Rs 291 - up Rs 2.

Bajaj at Rs 1,010 (down Rs 7) and Hero Honda at Rs 390 (down Rs 13 or 3%) ended with losses on selling pressure. Tata Motors, however, closed up a rupee at Rs 425.

Cipla finished 3% lower (Rs 37) at Rs 1,208. Dr. Reddy's ended down a per cent (Rs 16) at Rs 1,328. Ranbaxy, however, closed at Rs 1,084 - up Rs 7.

Infosys and Wipro languished in the negative territory throughout the session and ended at Rs 5,059 (down Rs 27) and Rs 1,570 (down Rs 16), respectively. Satyam, however, bucked the trend to finish up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 349. The tech major clocked a volume of over 56.19 lakh (5.62 million) on the BSE with a value of Rs 195 crore (Rs 1.95 billion).

HDFC at Rs 577 (up Rs 14) and HDFC Bank at Rs 334 (up Rs 6) raked in 2% gain each. Bharti Tele, too, moved up 2% to Rs 82. ONGC was up Rs 2 at Rs 627. Hindalco, however, shed a per cent (Rs 9) to Rs 1,290. Tata Power lost 2% (Rs 5) to Rs 276.

ICICI Bank was hammered on sustained selling pressure, and the counter dropped 6% (Rs 18) to Rs 269.

Geometric Software logged 7% gains (Rs 37) to Rs 550. Mastek and NIIT advanced 3% each to Rs 282 (up Rs 7) and Rs 242 (up Rs 8), respectively. Ramco Systems and Visual Software, however, lost 2% each to Rs 338 (down Rs 9) and Rs 245 (down Rs 6), respectively.

Federal Bank moved up 5% (Rs 11) to Rs 212. UTI Bank, which touched an intra-day high of Rs 135, pared gains on selling pressure, and ended 2% higher at Rs 116. Kotak Bank lost 4% (Rs 17) to Rs 355. Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank slipped 2% each to Rs 37 and Rs 26, respectively. PNB lost a per cent at Rs 185.

Adlabs shot up 4% to Rs 96. While Mukta Arts gained 3% to Rs 76, Balaji and Padmalaya also ended with marginal gains. Saregama, however, lost 2% to Rs 67.