The price movements in most scrips were narrow and the tendency was to firm up. The ground has now been set for the market to gather further strength on Wednesday. The Sensex opened on an affirmative note at 2947, some 2 points above the previous close of 2945. Even though HLL was depressed, there were others in the Sensex list which turned bullish.

Notable amongst this was the pharmaceutical group. Novartis (1.81 per cent), Glaxo 1.8 per cent) and Ranbaxy (2.95 per cent) hauled the Sensex up. NIIT and Infosys with 1.31 per cent and 0.16 per cent too helped.

And it was a field day for Telco, which posted a hefty 6.78 per cent. ACC was not to be left behind! Thusthe change in the composition of the index has helped the firming up of the index.

The index posted a high of 2974, which was just a point higher than the previous high of 2973. The day's low at 2947 was a modest 7 point improvement over Monday's low of 2940. At close the index gained 24 points to close at 2969.

The daily stochastic indicator is still indicating a downtrend. It is however close to the oversold region.

The indicator could end up signalling a buy if the Sensex firms up some more on Wednesday. On the other hand, if you give due weight to the fact that the index opened higher and even the low kept above the previous low, and the close was with a gain, you should be prepared for the Sensex to move up further.

A look at individual scrips too shows that prices have firmed up. This firming up would prepare them for moving up rather than moving down. On balance, the indication for the market as a whole is positive and the index could aim to reach up to 3,030 points.