By Gurdev Singh Virk MUMBAI--Indian shares ended slightly higher Monday supported by bargain buying in some front-line stocks such as cigarette maker ITC and ICICI Bank. The Bombay Stock Exchange's S&P BSE Sensex index ended at 21101.03 points, up 0.1% from Friday's close and the highest level since Dec. 11. The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty closed up 0.2% at 6284.50 points. "Markets traded in a narrow range, but beaten down sectors such as banks and real estate saw fair amount of short-covering," said Nilesh Karani, vice president for research at Mumbai-based Magnum Broking Ltd. Mr. Karani said trade is expected to remain rangebound in the absence of any near-term triggers and predicts the Nifty index to stay in a 6240-6330 band this week. Volume on the BSE cash market stood at 20.44 billion rupees, lower than Friday's 22.11 billion rupees. Ten of the Bombay Stock Exchange's 12 sector indices ended higher. The bank, realty and metal indices were among the top gainers. ITC--which has the highest weightage in the Sensex--rose 1.3% to 319.20 rupees, while ICICI Bank closed 0.9% higher at 1,096.65 rupees. Analysts say ITC and ICICI look attractive following the recent price declines, which appear overstretched given the healthy growth records of the two companies. ITC is down 16% from its record-high hit in July 2013, while ICICI is down 11% from its 2013 high. Infosys was the top loser on the Sensex, down 2.4% at 3,468.65 rupees. After market hours on Friday, the company had announced that board member and finance chief V. Balakrishnan resigned from his positions effective Dec. 31. The rupee was trading higher against the U.S. dollar. In late spot market trade, a dollar was buying 61.98 rupees compared with 62.04 rupees at Friday's close.

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