Sensex closes 61 points up, IT, capital goods gain

Mumbai  :  A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed 61 points higher Monday. IT and capital goods stocks were among the best performers.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,784.64 points, closed at 18,823.91 points, up 61.17 points or 0.33 percent up from its previous day’s close at 18,762.74 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 18,838.54 points and a low of 18,745.28 points in intra-day trade. The BSE midcap index was up 58.56 points and so was the smallcap index, up 99.47 points.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange closed 0.27 percent up at 5,718.80 points.

On the sectoral front, the BSE IT index was up 111.58 points and capital goods was up 73.12 points.

Major Sensex gainers were Infosys, 2.96 percent at Rs.2,609.10; Tata Motors, up 2.65 percent at Rs.274.55; Jindal Steel, up 1.93 percent at Rs.435.75; BHEL, up 1.86 percent at Rs.251.45; and Hindalco Inds, up 1.83 percent at Rs.122.70.

The main losers were Bajaj Auto, down 1.11 percent at Rs.1,812.25; Tata Power, down 0.94 percent at Rs.105.95; HDFC Bank, down 0.87 percent at Rs.623.20; ONGC, down 0.84 percent at Rs.278.05; and ICICI Bank, down 0.63 percent at Rs.1,050.60.

Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.83 percent down while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended trading 0.38 percent higher. Shanghai’s composite index also closed 1.45 percent up.

At closing bell here, European markets too were in green. France’s CAC was up 1.54 percent and so was Germany’s DAX, up 1.18 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 was trading 1.16 percent higher.

Photo : AFP