Mumbai, July 6
The Sensex today breached the long-anticipated 15,000 mark to touch an all-time high of 15,007.22 before it closed lower at 14,964.12 points.

There were celebrations all around the BSE building at Dalal Street as stock brokers released colourful balloons in celebration. However, sobriety soon returned and the Sensex closed lower on profit booking.

It took the Sensex 144 sessions to accomplish this feat from 14,000 levels. In broader markets, the Nifty gained 0.7 per cent or 30 points to settle at 4,384.85 levels.

Among the gainers today was Satyam Computer, which gained 5.4 per cent or Rs 25 at close. TCS, Wipro, Infosys Technologies, HDFC Bank, ACC and Ambuja Cements were the other gainers.

However, ICICI Bank fell by 2.4 per cent or Rs 24. Other losers included Cipla, HDFC, Maruti Udyog and Tata Steel.

After taking a hammering in the past several sessions on fears of a strong rupee eroding export gains, the BSE IT index today surged 3.2 per cent by close.

Among the gainers among IT scrips included Patni Computer, TCS, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Infosys Technologies, I-Flex Solutions and Moser Baer.