Pivotals lose earlier gains

Brokers said the sentiment turned subdued during the mid-session mainly on profit-taking by local operators in view of end account considerations and fears of higher badla charges interest rate on carry-forward deals. FIIs reportedly bought select scrips like Nicholas Piramal, Tata Tea and software shares.

Hectic activity was witnessed in select counters like Reliance, Mastek, Satyam and others. The Polaris scrip which was listed on Wednesday at an impressive rate of Rs 775 reported selling pressure during the day and closed sharply lower at Rs 723.

Of the 155 specified scrips, 104 registered sharp to moderatelosses while 45 showed gains and six held steady. Satyam Computer clocked the highest turnover of Rs 306.29 crore of the total volume of business of Rs 2491.19 crore, considerably down from yesterday8217;s turnover of Rs 2723.05 crore.

Satyam Computer gained smartly by Rs 48 to Rs 1121 on short covering. SBI firmed up by Rs 3.25 to Rs 218 and NIIT by Rs 105.50 to Rs 2825.50. However, Reliance lost by Rs 4.55 at Rs 236.50, Zee Telefilms by Rs 354 at Rs 4471, Ranbaxy by Rs 19.95 at Rs 1072.05, GACL by Rs 17.50 at Rs 493, Hindustan Lever by Rs 11.20 at Rs 2560.80, Infosys by Rs 196 at Rs 7139, ITC by Rs 23 at Rs 822 and Mahindra by Rs 14.50 at Rs 342.