ITC gave a major push to the Sensex on Monday. With huge buying interest during the second half of the day, the stock gained more than 6 per cent, and provided a major boost to the Sensex which showed a sharp recovery, and gained 40 points.For the software sector stocks, the day started on a weak note, and the sentiment remained weak in the first half of the day. A sharp rally on Digital Equipment counter which gained 11 per cent triggered a recovery on other counters also. As a result, SSI, and DSQ also gained smartly and were up more than 5 per cent each. SSI moved up on the news that the company has bagged an order worth $20 million. Other software stocks also showed a smart recovery from their respective intra-day low.

The Sensex opened at 4208 points, touched a low of 4142.82 points, and closed at 4231 points. The high for the day was 4233.49 points. The S&P CNX Nifty on the NSE also gained 10 points, and closed as 1320 points. The high for the day was 1321.55 points whereas the low for the day was 1295.45 points.Among the pivotals, MTNL, and Telco dipped sharply, and Reliance, HLL, and SBI showed only marginal gains. The number of advances stood at 633, while the number of declines stood at 618.

Around 105 stocks remained unchanged. The trading volume stood at Rs 3346 crore, and the same figure on the NSE stood at Rs 4418 crore.Gainers for the day are Digital,Shyam Tele, Padmini Poly, Tata Tele, Mastek, Pun Com. Other gainers for the day are SSI, ITC, Tata Power, EIH, Top Cassettes, Jain Studio, Khyati Resort. At the same time, stocks which dipped more than 7.9 per cent were Zenith Info, Eveready, Sri MM Soft, Madras Ref, ITC Agro, Centum Elect.