The Sensex opened steady with a gain of six points at 4,995. Though the index remained above the 5,000 levels for a better part of the trading session, a sharp decline in tech, pharma and other select counters in late morning deals dragged it below the 5,000 levels to a low of 4,991.

The markets shrugged of its range-bound trend in mid-noon trades when renewed buying in select heavyweight, PSUs, cement and recovery in tech stocks lifted the index to an intra-day high of 5,051.

The Sensex finally settled with a gain of 56 points at 5,045.

The Nifty added 17 points to close at 1,615.

Reliance, on the back of a volume of over 26.41 lakh on the BSE, gained nearly 3% (Rs 13) to Rs 488. ITC closed up a tad at Rs 854. HLL, however, remained weak through the session, and closed down a rupee at Rs 178.

MTNL attracted considerable buying support, and shot up 6% (Rs 7) to Rs 120. BHEL, after trading in a narrow-range for better part of the trading session, ended firm with a gain of 2% (Rs 11) at Rs 446. SBI ended with a modest gain of Rs 4 at Rs 471. HPCL, however, ended in the red with a loss of Rs 2 at Rs 367.

L&T (up Rs 14 or 4% to Rs 402), Grasim (up 11 to Rs 899), Gujarat Ambuja (up 3% or Rs 9 to Rs 281) and ACC (up 4% or Rs 8 to Rs 227) finished firm on renewed buying support.

Bajaj rallied sharply on sustained buying support, and moved up 3% (Rs 33) to Rs 981. Tata Motors added Rs 2 to Rs 409. Hero Honda, however, closed down a rupee at Rs 374.

Wipro and Satyam ended up a per cent each at Rs 1,539 (up Rs 19) and Rs 330 (up Rs 3), respectively. Infosys, which recovered in late noon deals to touch a high of 4,969, however, slipped back into the red to finish down Rs 3 at Rs 4,924. The tech major clocked a volume of over 1.11 lakh on the BSE with a turnover of Rs 54 crore.

Dr. Reddy's and Cipla had a mixed outing, but ended with gains at Rs 1,272 (up Rs 14) and Rs 1,201 (up Rs 3), respectively. Ranbaxy, however, traded weak and closed down a per cent (Rs 14) at Rs 1,022.