The BSE Sensitive index opened slightly lower at 2953.35 and moved between 2974.66 and 2942.02 before closing at 2963.45, showing a marginal gain of 0.95 point from the previous close of 2962.50. The BSE-100 index closed steady at 1314.05 as against the previous close of 1314.04.

News of Telco hiving off its construction division into a subsidiary led to a sharp rise in the stock price. In an immediate reaction to the announcement made in the NSE, Telco's scrip jumped 6 per cent to close at Rs 166. Initially, the scrips came under all-round selling pressure unnerved by the government's decision to defer the Patents Bill to the budget session in the Lok Sabha but recovered on shortcovering. The long weekend holidays restricted activity and shares moved in both directions on alternate bouts of buying and selling to square up positions for the current settlement. The total turnover was Rs 1332.99 crore.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), share prices showed small gains over the last close on select buying. The S&P Nifty improved further by 2.40 to close at 861.10 from the last close of 858.70. The total turnover was Rs 1,665.35 crore. The exchange witnessed 456 scrips advance, 495 scrips decline and 133 scrips remain unchanged while 30 securities had hit their price bands.