Sensex closes 42 points up; oil and gas, bank stocks rally

Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities markets Tuesday closed 42 points higher following healthy buying spree in oil and gas and bank stocks.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,277.58 points, closed at 19,348.12 points, up 42.80 points or 0.22 percent from its previous close at 19,305.32 points.

The index touched a high of 19,373.94 points and low of 19,263.71 points intra-day. The BSE midcap index was up 6.79 points, while the smallcap index was higher by 43.60 points.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was up 18.30 points or 0.31 percent at 5,889.25 points.

The BSE oil and gas index was higher by 130.42 points, bank index was up 104.19 points and healthcare index increased by 25.82 points.

However, the consumer durables index was down 57.90 points, while the automobile index was lower by 46.88 points, followed by information technology (IT) index down 40.29 points.

Among the gainers were Tata Power, up 4.00 percent at Rs.111.75; Reliance Industries, up 2.49 percent at Rs.823.70; State Bank of India (SBI), up 1.59 percent at Rs.2,238.25; Bajaj Auto, up 1.55 percent at Rs.1,956.40; and ICICI Bank, up 1.53 percent at Rs.1,119.15.

The major losers were Mahindra and Mahindra, 1.75 percent lower at Rs.938.95; Wipro, down 1.65 points at Rs.388.10; NTPC, down 1.34 percent at Rs.158.50; Sterlite Inds, down 1.29 percent at Rs.107.05; and TCS, down 1.25 percent at Rs.1,298.45.

Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei declined by 0.27 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.15 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index was higher by 0.78 percent.

All major European markets were trading flat. Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.09 percent, while the German DAX was trading higher by 0.26 percent. The French CAC 40 index was also up 0.68 percent.