Sensex (BSE sensitive index) which moved in a narrow range of 4187.38 and 4138.95 and closed at 4170.83 with a small gain of 12.16 points compared to the previous level of 4158.67. The BSE-100 index edged up by 3.29 points to 1798.21 from previous close of 1794.92.

Brokers said though the market had virtually discounted the border problem, the neutral stance taken by China on the Kargil conflict advising Pakistan Prime Minister to resume talks with India to defuse tension was considered to be an encouraging factor. The focus was on fertiliser shares and select scrips from consumer goods and pharma sectors due to the prevailing attractive rates. Thecyclical stocks suffered a moderate setback on selling pressure. Fertilizer stocks like GSFC, GNFC, Indo Gulf Fertilizer, Spic and Zuari Agro were in the limelight. Meanwhile, equities traded in a thin range and ended almost steady at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) today.

The S&P CNX Nifty declined by 0.90 points to 1191.30 from the previous close of 1192.20. A total of 465 scrips advanced, 539 declined and 84 were unchanged. Also 29 scrips hit their price bands. The total traded value on the NSE was Rs 1,772.69 crore from trading in 8.60 crore shares. Pentafour Software topped the turnover list with Rs 229.05 crore followed by Reliance (Rs 174.32 crore), Satyam Computers (Rs 174.11 crore), SBI (Rs 167.24 crore) and Ranbaxy (Rs 143.10 crore).