Sensex ends at 16451, down by 15 points

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) surged 4.94 per cent after the company said its board will consider and approve on 20 January 2012 a proposal for buyback of the company`s equity shares. However, IT pivotals declined as the rupee hovered at 2-month high against the dollar. TCS lost 2.62 pct as the company`s Q3 results came in line with market expectations.

A firm rupee adversely impacts the operating profit margin of IT firms as the sector derives a lion`s share of revenue from exports. The BSE benchmark sensex resumed higher at 16,502.42 and hovered in a range of 16,517.96 and 16,384.48 before ending at 16,451.47, showing a marginal loss of 14.58 points or 0.09 pct from its last close.

Asian stocks were mixed ahead of a key meeting between Greece and its creditors later in the global day. Key indices in, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan were up by between 0.17 pct to 0.99 pct while indices in Singapore, China, and South Korea were down by between 0.02 pct to 1.39 pct. European stocks fell from a five-month high as the World Bank cut its global growth forecast. Key benchmark indices in UK, Germany and France were down by between 0.06 pct to 0.23 pct.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also moved down by 11.50 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 4,955.80. Meanwhile, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1025.75 crore yesteday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Out of the 30-share sensex pack 18 scrips ended with losses while 12 scrips finished with gains.

Major losers were Tata Steel (4.05 pct), Coal India (3.22 pct), M&M (2.84 pct), BHEL (2.78 pct), Wipro (2.70 pct), Icici Bank (2.07 pct), Infosys (1.87 pct), Larsen (1.79 pct), NTPC (1.64 pct), Tata Motors (1.61 pct), Cipla (1.60 pct), Gail India (1.47 pct), Sterlite Ind (1.28 pct), HUL (1.20 pct) and Maruti Suzuki (1.12 pct).