The Sensex opened marginally (six points) lower at 5,600, but moved up to a high of 5,621 in early deals. The index, however, could not hold gains as selling pressure saw it slip to an intra-day low of 5,572.

Fresh buying saw the index recoup losses in early noon deals, and move back into positive zone. Thereafter, it zig-zagged in a narrow range with alternate moves in and out of positive zone.

Renewed buying in auto and banking stocks saw the index zoom to an intra-day high of 5,639 - up 67 points from the intra-day low.

Selling at higher levels saw the Sensex again slip into negative zone, though marginally, but it soon swung back and finally closed 11 points higher at 5,617.

While 15 Sensex stocks advanced, 15 declined today. Advancing shares registered a volume of 1.49 crore for Rs 543.41 crore, and declining shares accounted for a volume of 1.30 crore amounting to Rs 561.01 crore.

ITC slipped a per cent (Rs 11) towards the close to finish at Rs 1,166. HLL declined a rupee to Rs 123, and Reliance was down Rs 4 at Rs 503.

Wipro ended a per cent (Rs 6) higher at Rs 605. Infosys shed Rs 12 to Rs 1,664, and Satyam was down Rs 2 at Rs 381.

SBI advanced 2.7% (Rs 13) to Rs 493. ICICI Bank gained 2.3% (Rs 6.50) at Rs 295, and HDFC Bank was up 1.5% (Rs 5) at Rs 412.

Maruti zoomed 2.7% to Rs 369 following the news that an agreement has been worked out between the government and Suzuki Motor on the hot issue of fresh investments.

Bajaj Auto rallied over 2% (Rs 22) to Rs 981. While Hero Honda gained Rs 5 at Rs 455, Tata Motors declined a rupee at Rs 413.

Metal stocks witnessed profit-taking. Hindalco plunged over 2% (Rs 27) to Rs 1,258, and Tisco was down Rs 2 at Rs 288.

HPCL slipped over a per cent (Rs 4) to Rs 333, and ONGC ended almost flat at Rs 760.

Ranbaxy surged 1.7% (Rs 18) to Rs 1,123. Dr.Reddy's erased most of its gains to close Rs 5 higher at Rs 757. Cipla was marginally down at Rs 285.

While Tata Power declined Rs 2 to Rs 311, Reliance Energy gained 1.5% (Rs 9) at Rs 647.

Zee zoomed 5.7% (Rs 8.50) to Rs 157. While MTNL was down Rs 2 at Rs 123, Bharti Tele ended unchanged at Rs 150.

The BSE BANKEX advanced 2.5% to 2,814, and the BSE Auto index rallied a per cent to 2,370. The BSE Metal index declined over a per cent to 4,861, and the BSE FMCG was down 0.7% at 928.