Sensex rebounds to close 48 points up; Infosys down over 3 pc

The 30-share index opened on a weak note and touched an intra-day low of 17,855.85 following Infosys' announcement of an over 2 per cent decline in its first quarter profit.

The key index, however, bounced back to close 48.70 points up at 17,985.90 on the back of strong activity at the Reliance Industry counter, which gained Rs 19 to Rs 1,074.75 on some favourable reports.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty gained 17.65 points to 5,400.65, its highest closing level in the last one year. The IT bellwether Infosys Technologies reported a fall of 2.4 per cent in its June quarter net profit. The company's consolidated net profit declined to Rs 1,488 crore against Rs 1,525 crore in the same quarter last year. The IT firm's stock lost Rs 99.65 or 3.44 per cent to Rs 2,795.30.

European markets opening higher also helped revive buying activity, marketmen said.The recovery was supported by realty, consumer durables and refinery stocks. In the Sensex, 17 advanced and 12 ended with losses, while Hero Honda remained unchanged.

With the buying activity was spread over a wide front, small cap and mid cap segment indices ended higher by 0.72 per cent each at 9,393.70 and 7,380.25 respectively.