Sensex's gains dry up on late sell-off, F&O expiry weighs

The Sensex today ended with a marginal rise after much of its early gains were washed out, hit by a late sell-off on expiry of June series derivatives contracts.

The benchmark quickly reclaimed the 31,000-mark as investors cheered the Cabinet's decision to give in-principle nod to Air India disinvestment and the Sebi's proposal to relax entry norms for foreign portfolio investors.

But liquidation of bets following expiry of June series futures and options contracts saw the index settle up by only 23.20 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 30,857.52. The gauge had lost 456.42 points in three straight sessions.

The 50-share NSE Nifty closed higher by 12.85 points, or 0.14 per cent at 9,504.10, after shuttling between 9,575.80 and 9,493.80.

In the Sensex kitty, major gainers were Axis Bank (3.48 per cent), Tata Steel (2.85 per cent), Cipla (1.43 per cent) and Bharti Airtel (1.39 per cent).