Sensex closes 183 points up, auto and metal stocks rally

Mumbai  :  A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed 183 points higher Friday. Auto, metal and consumer durable goods stocks surged.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,704.98 points, closed at 18,762.74 point, 183.24 points or 0.99 percent up from its previous day’s close at 18,579.50 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 18,869.94 points and a low of 18,698.51 points in intra-day trade. The BSE midcap index was up 74.52 points while the smallcap index was 59.43 points high.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed 53.80 points or 0.95 percent down at 5,703.30 points.

On the sectoral front, the BSE auto index went up 193.18 points, while metal was up 142.80 points and consumer durable was up 111.53 points.

The major Sensex gainers were Hindalco Inds, up 3.95 points or 3.39 percent at Rs.120.50; Tata Motors, up 7.70 points or 2.96 percent at Rs.267.45; Cipla, 9.30 points or 2.50 percent at Rs.380.60; Sun Pharma, 16.50 points or 2.44 percent at Rs.693.30; and Tata Power, up 2.40 points or 2.30 percent at Rs.106.95.

The main losers were Infosys, down 14.70 points or 0.58 percent at Rs.2,534; BHEL, down 1.40 points or 0.56 percent at Rs.246.85; State Bank of India (SBI), down 8.65 points or 0.39 percent at Rs.2,237.90; Gail India, down 0.85 points or 0.22 percent at Rs.383.05; and HDFC Bank, down 0.90 points or 0.14 percent at Rs.628.70.

Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.89 percent down while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 0.38 percent higher. Shanghai’s composite index also went up 1.45 percent.

European markets too were trading mixed. France’s CAC was down 0.51 percent and so was Germany’s DAX, down 0.10 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.13 percent higher.

Photo : AFP