Marketmen said the foreign funds supported the market and pushed Hindustan Lever to a high of Rs 1785 but the scrip attracted profit-booking by UTI and other operators. FIIs were net buyers in Novartis, ITC, Glaxo, P&G, Pfizer, Colgate, Telco, Tisco, MTNL, Satyam Computer and BHEL. Operators were forced to cover their positions on the last day of the current settlement resulting in fresh buying in several scrips. However, some scrips attracted profit-taking at the end.

The volume of business was sharply up at Rs 1047.79 crore as compared to yesterday's turnover of Rs 833.28 crore. Satyam Computer improved by Rs 3 to Rs 547.25, ITC by Rs 6.50 to Rs 716.50, Telco by Rs 3.50 to Rs 142.80, Tisco by Rs 6.20 to Rs 103.10, SBI by a rupee to Rs 158 and BHEL by Rs 7.70 to Rs 249.70. However, Pentafour Software dipped by 18.50 to 488.25 on selling pressure.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), pivotals gained marginally on good buying support by foreign institutional investors and bull operators. The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 867.15 points, touched the day's high of 874.20, low of 865.70 and closed at 870.00 showing a net gain of 5.60 points from the previous close of 864.40 points. The total turnover was Rs 1338.25 crore. The NSE witnessed 475 scrips advances, 416 declined and 120 remained steady. Also 23 securities hit their price bands.