The drop in the benchmark indices is, other than the drop in Infosys, attributed to lack of institutional interest in the market. However, except for the decline in the leading indices, a lot of software stocks hit the upper circuit during Monday's trading and closed at that level.

The Sensex opened at 4692.41, hovered between 4698.17 and 4632.37 and closed near the day's low at 4639.43, down 65.56 points aganist the previous close of 4704.99. On the other hand, the Nifty opened at 1399.80, touched the day's high at 1401.25 and the day's low at 1382.20 and closed at 1384.65 against its Friday close of 1399.60.

According to market-players, for thenext two-three trading sessions, the market is likely to remain in the trading zone and is expected to move sideways. And institutional interest in select counters can drive these counters, the overall index movement notwithstanding.

``For the next two trading sessions, I expect a sideways movement in the market. However, institutional interest in select stocks would see these counters moving northward irrespective of the overall market movement,'' said VVLN Sastry at Khandwala Securities.

However, according to dealers, the fate of some of the important bills which are scheduled for discussion in the ensuing winter session of the parliament, and might also be passed, are likely to affect the market movement during the next few trading sessions.

Although the overall movement of the leading indices showed downward trends, a host of software scrips hit the upper circuit on the BSE. These counters included Silverline, Hughes Software, Pentafour, Rolta, Maars Software, Kale Consultants, Polaris and a numberof others.