The Sensex opened with a small positive gap of two points at 3,642, and immediately hit a high of 3,662 on buying support in select old and new economy stocks.

Though auto, PSUs and heavyweights displayed positive trends, the index remained range-bound till early afternoon deals. The index slipped thereafter on selling pressure in HLL, SBI and pharma stocks, and dipped to an intra-day low of 3,610. The Sensex finally finished with a loss of 19 points at 3,621. The Nifty dropped six points to 1,138.

While 17 Sensex stocks declined, 13 advanced on Friday. The traded volume and value of the index scrips dropped to 1.61 crore and Rs 468.37 crore, respectively.

Pharma majors lost ground on profit-taking. Dr. Reddy's, which rose 9% on Thursday, slipped on profit-taking and lost around 2% (Rs 19) to Rs 1,170. Ranbaxy ended weak with a loss of a per cent (Rs 8) at Rs 834. Glaxo, which dipped 3% on Thursday, continued downtrend and ended down a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 372. Cipla, however, was in positive zone throughout the session and added 3% (Rs 21) to Rs 809.

PSU frontliners displayed mixed trends. HPCL, on renewed buying support, advanced 2% (Rs 8) to Rs 358. BHEL slipped during intra-day deals, recouped lost ground and finally was up 2% (Rs 4) at Rs 282. SBI and MTNL, however, lost 3% each to Rs 387 (down Rs 12) and Rs 116 (down Rs 4), respectively on profit-booking.

Heavyweights largely finished with gains. ITC finished 2% higher (Rs 14) at Rs 770. Reliance, after trading in a narrow range throughout the session, was up a per cent (Rs 2) at Rs 333. HLL, however, buckled under selling pressure and dropped 4% (Rs 7) to Rs 171.

Cement stocks faltered under selling pressure. Grasim slipped below Rs 500-mark and closed with a loss of Rs 4 at Rs 498. ACC was down a tad at Rs 169 after trading in positive zone for better part of the trading session. Gujarat Ambuja finished marginally lower at Rs 204. L&T, however, bucked the downtrend to finish with a gain of 3% (Rs 7) at Rs 256.

Tech pivotals ended in the losers list. Infosys languished in negative territory and ended down a per cent (Rs 24) at Rs 3,098. HCL Tech was subdued and ended down a tad at Rs 147. Satyam closed down a rupee at Rs 186.

Auto pivotals, however, ended with gains. Bajaj, after going through weak trends in the last couple of days, found support today and gained 4% (Rs 19) to Rs 573. Hero Honda was steady and added Rs 2 to Rs 256. Telco sneaked into positive zone towards the fag-end to finish up a rupee at Rs 205.

ICICI Bank added Rs 3 to Rs 149. While Zee clocked 2% to Rs 96, Tisco closed up a tad at Rs 173. HDFC, which zoomed 8% on Thursday, slipped on profit-booking to finish with a loss of 4% (Rs 16) at Rs 401.

PSU oil majors displayed positive trends. IBP garnered 4% gains (Rs 22) to Rs 609. ONGC, IOC and BPCL flared up 3% each to Rs 490 (up Rs 14), Rs 405 (up Rs 13) and Rs 291 (up Rs 9) on buying support.

Media stocks largely finished with gains. Padmalaya Telefilms logged 9% gains (Rs 7) to Rs 89, and Saregama moved up 5% (Rs 3) to Rs 58 on sustained buying interest. Balaji closed up a per cent at Rs 69. Cinevista, however, dropped 3% to Rs 32, and Sri Adhikari closed down a per cent at Rs 82.

Bank stocks were weak on Friday. UTI Bank, which hit the upper circuit on Thursday, came under profit-booking and dropped 7% (Rs 4) to Rs 54. HDFC Bank lost 5% (Rs 14) to Rs 276. BoB and Syndicate Bank dipped 4% each to Rs 128 (down Rs 5) and Rs 26, respectively. Corporation Bank gained 3% (Rs 5) to Rs 169.

Tech scrips were divergent. Mphasis BFL, Mastek and Hughes closed up a per cent each at Rs 330, Rs 283 and Rs 220, respectively. Wipro and Digital, however, ended down a per cent each at Rs 901 (down Rs 8) and Rs 421 (down Rs 3), respectively.