Mumbai: Samvat 2058 (from Hindu calendar) ended on a positive note even as Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) snapped a three-day smart rally and suffered a sharp setback in mixed trend on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on November 1 on heavy selling by domestic funds at higher price levels.

However, Oil PSU (Public Sector Undertaking) stocks recovered smartly along with a few other heavyweights on hectic buying support in response to announcement of encouraging second quarter working results.

The BSE benchmark 30-share index, which firmed up to 2962.32 at early stages, later met with strong resistance and dropped to the intra-day low of 2928.63 before ending at 2950.58 as against yesterday's close of 2949.32, netting a minor gain of 1.26 points.

The broad-based BSE-100 Index edged up by 3.49 points to 1462.27 from previous close of 1458.78.

Attributing negative reaction in RIL to selling by local funds, brokers said the Unit Trust of India (UTI) that have been consistent sellers in the market, took the opportunity to book profits in RIL at higher levels.

UTI was believed to have unloaded heavy chunk of RIL yesterday, which was absorbed by foreign funds.

HPCL announced a growth of 225 per cent in net profit at Rs 456 crore for second quarter over Rs 140.30 crore in same period previous fiscal. HPCL and BPCL, which suffered a sharp setback yesterday on adverse divestment reports, staged a smart recovery on the back of excellent performance.

Had it not been for sharp falls in RIL, BHEL and GACL, the SENSEX would have closed with sharp gains.

PTI