With HLL due to announce first quarter results on Friday, activity has picked up on the counter. ``There has been institutional buying in HLL coupled with speculators taking positions before the results. While rumours of a stock split have been floating in the market, we expect around 30 per cent growth for the first quarter,'' said a fund manager.

Infosys dropped further in the domestic market after its ADR ended lower at $85.75 at Nasdaq onTuesday. Infosys slipped from its opening price of Rs 4800 to Rs 4700 before it closed higher at 4772, losing 6.1 per cent from its previous close of Rs 5082.

``The market is currently in the hands of operators who are shifting from one sector to another,'' said VVLN Sastry at Khandwala Securities.

``However, the momentum in pharma stocks is not going to be constant and profit-booking is likely to emerge by Friday,'' he added.

``With the overnight fall in Infosys ADR, operators did not take positions in IT counter but moved to pharma stocks where there was still some scope for appreciation,'' said a market participant. While Pfizer and Novartis gained 8 per cent and hit the upper circuit, Abbott Laboratories, Knoll Pharma and Ranbaxy Laboratories came within striking distance of the upper circuit. There was also some stock-specific movement in IT counters like Satyam, Wipro and Digital Equipment. Among the FMCG counter, Dabur moved up sharply to close at Rs 774, while Britannia gained Rs 65 to end atRs 1369. The counter saw huge volumes to the tune of 60-65,000 shares on the BSE, against the average daily volume of 15-20,000 shares. ``Stocks from IT, pharma and FMCG are in the limelight, but interest is likely to shift to commodity and cyclical stocks. It is a good time to book profit at current levels in pharma stocks. With the FIIs turning net buyers, the market looks upbeat,'' said Chirag Sanghvi at Asit C Mehta Invest Intermediaries.