Friday, June 17 2005 17:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Led by RIL, the Sensex recovered at the fag end and today (Jun 17, 2005) closed with marginal gains in lacklustre trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) even as crude prices edged towards record highs and monsoon have yet to make its appearance in the western coast amid sustained FIIs inflows.

Had it not been for a smart rally by Reliance pack, the market would have settled in negative territory.

The top heavyweight RIL continued its upward march and hit the 52-week high drawing comfort from a likely settlement to the feud between Ambani brothers.

Operators, however, reportedly engaged in winding up of positions at the weekend despite sustained inflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) reported net investments of Rs 392.70 crore on June 15.

Low inflation number had a sentimental impact on the market. Inflation hit a 13-month low of 4.22 per cent in the week ended June four.

Oil prices soared to $57 a barrel in Asian trade, moving closer to the all-time high of $58.20 set in April. Monsoon too continued to play truant.

Blue chip counters like Wipro, Maruti Udyog, HDFC, Tata Steel, Infosys Tech, Hindalco and Satyam Computers also recorded handsome gains on institutional support.

However, SBI, Tata Motors, TCS Ltd, ONGC, Grasim, BHEL, Bajaj Auto and ITC finished with substantial losses.