Top line software scrips regained on buying support from foreign funds, while second and third line software stocks continued to clog downward price filter. Index heavyweight HLL attracted good buying support and gained Rs 40 to close at Rs2220. The Unit Trust of India was said to be a major buyer in HLL.

Among the software majors, Infosys Technology, Pentafour software, NIIT and BFL software closed higher while Satyam received support towards the close due to short covering. Pentafour gained by 3.01 per cent to close at Rs 1123 and Infosys was up by 4 per cent to close at Rs 2723.50.

However, shares of Aptech, Fujitsu ICIM, DSQ, Digital Equipment, Rolta India and a host of other software stocks witnessed continued selling pressure. Silverline closed lower after the company announced its results today. Among the major pivotals, State Bank was down by Rs 4.50 at Rs 166, ITC down by Rs 11 at Rs 928 and ACC was down by Rs 20 at Rs 1445. Foreign funds were seen bargain hunting at select counters, including Satyam computers, Exide Industries, Rhone Poulenc, ITC Agro, Cadburys and Cheminor Chemicals. Rhone Polenc, Global Telesystems, Videocon International and Exide Industries closed at the upper price barrier. Brokers said the market will berange bound for some time till the political uncertainty clears.

They see good resistance against further fall at 3370 levels and the fact that Sensex recovered strong from around this level today morning is read as sign of strong buying support when prices moved below 3400. If the Sensex crashes below 3370, they see the emergence of very heavy selling pressure from speculators. Some of the players were seen taking small long positions in software scrips today as they were in oversold positions.

Pentafour software clocked the highest turnover of Rs 319.00 crore out of the total volume of Rs 1332.55 crore recorded at the BSE. Other active scrips were Satyam computers (Rs 250.10 crore), ITC (Rs 69.78 crore), Digital Equipment (Rs 41.10 crore) and ACC (Rs 35.42 crore).