The IT stocks were on the receiving end as the rupee held at a two-week high against the dollar . Others like Satyam, Rolta and Moser-Baer also lost ground.
Finally, 30-share Sensex closed at 20,216 adding 24 points and Nifty gained 10 points to close at 6,081.
VSNL slipped 2% to Rs735. The company announced Tata Group sold a 10% stake in its Sri Lankan unit for 75mn Sri Lankan rupees. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs770 and a low of Rs721 and recorded volumes of over 16,00,000 shares on NSE.
Spice Communications ended marginally loser by 0.5% to Rs62. Reports stated that the company would sell its tower arm to Srei Infrastructure for over Rs5bn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs64 and a low of Rs61 and has recorded volumes of over 40,0,000 shares on NSE.
Gemini Communication rallied by over 9% to Rs252 after reports stated that the company along with Midas Communication Technologies bagged Rs2.6bn order from BSNL. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs274 and a low of Rs234 and recorded volumes of over 7,00,000 shares on NSE.
Videocon Industries rallied over 9% to Rs683 as reports stated that the company was planning to generate 5,000MW at an estimated cost of Rs250bn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs689 and a low of Rs632 and recorded volumes of over 12,00,000 shares on NSE.
Ahluwalia Contracts spurred by over 6.5% to Rs351 after the company announced that it received new work orders worth Rs3.41bn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs3560 and a low of Rs331 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on NSE.
Shree Cement marginally slipped 1.4% to Rs1340. The company announced that they commissioned its second 1.5 MTPA cement grinding unit at Village Khushkhera, near Gurgaon on December 26, 2007 . The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs1439 and a low of Rs1325 and recorded volumes of over 8,000 shares on NSE.
PTL surged by over 3% to Rs173 after the company announced that the board of Directors of the company approved splitting each stock into five. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs174 and a low of Rs164 and recorded volumes of over 9,000 shares on NSE.
SAIL gained 1.1% to Rs273 after reports stated that the company would invest Rs200bn in West Bengal , about two fifth's of its total planned investments . The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs275 and a low of Rs270 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,00,000 shares on NSE.
Markets have rebounded smartly in the last few sessions after the sudden correction over last week, so some cooling off is not ruled out later in the day. Over the next few days, the trend is likely to be volatile as investors await latest quarterly results. Also, the strategy adopted by FIIs in the new year will have a bearing on the near-term direction of the market.
