MUMBAI, OCT 20: After a firm spell, pivotals on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) declined marginally on profit-taking coupled with lack of speculative support. Sensex (BSE sensitive index) opened at 4967.91 and moved in the range between 4990.41 and 4922.07 before closing at 4943.14, showing a net gain of 12.45 points as against the previous close of 4930.69. The BSE-100 index advanced smartly by 23.79 points to 2368.78 against the previous close of 2344.99.Brokers said that the sentiment was boosted during the earlier part of the session following reports of likely passage of the Insurance Bill in the Parliament coupled with good half-yearly results by petrochemical giant Reliance Industries which flared up by Rs 17.20 to Rs 255. However, several pivotals attracted profit-taking towards the end. Cement, software, bank and telecom shares remained better in the short rally. Hindustan Lever, NIIT and ITC attracted selling pressure. HLL dropped by Rs 60.20 to Rs 2379.80, ITC by Rs 40 to Rs 770 and NIIT by Rs210.35 to Rs 2419.65.FIIs reportedly bought Reliance and select shares like Cipla, Zee Telefilms, Global Telesystem besides cement scrips. However, FIIs sold heavily in some pharma and software scrips. Domestic FIs also booked profits in PSUs like BHEL and MTNL at higher levels trimming their gains. The total volume of business was substantially lower at Rs 2911.15 crore as against Rs 3256.20 crore posted last Monday. Satyam Computer remained the most active scrip with a turnover of Rs 341.91 crore. Satyam gained by Rs 34.05 to Rs 1658, Zee Telefilms Rs 400.45 to Rs 5406.80 and Pentafour Software by Rs 47.70 to Rs 768.95 on buying support.
