Sensex closes 21 points up; realty, FMCG stocks gain

Mumbai  :  A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed 21 points up Tuesday with realty, FMCG and consumer durable stocks being the best performers.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,708.01 points, closed at 18,694.41 points, 21.07 points or 0.11 percent up from its previous day’s close at 18,673.34 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 18,790.01 points and a low of 18,636.16 points in intra-day trade.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange closed 0.08 percent up at 5,673.90 points.

On the sectoral front, the BSE realty index was up 37.57 points, FMCG index was up 96.78 points and consumer durable index was up 50.43 points.

Major Sensex gainers were BHEL, up 2.67 percent at Rs.253.80; Cipla, up 1.92 percent at Rs.362.95; ITC, up 1.86 at Rs.260.50; Hindustan Unilever, up 1.75 percent at Rs.527.15; HDFC, up 1.28 percent at Rs.769.25; and Mahindra and Mahindra, up 1 percent at Rs.846.05.

Major Sensex losers were Jindal Steel, down 4.35 percent at Rs.425.10; Maruti Suzuki, down 2.42 percent at Rs.1,321.10; Sterlite Inds, down 2.31 percent at Rs.101.35; Tata Motors, down 1.66 percent at Rs.268.85; and Tata Steel, down 1.48 percent Rs.400.65.

Other Asian markets closed mixed. Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.25 percent up, while Shanghai’s composite index closed 0.19 percent lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.02 percent up.

European markets were trading mixed as well. France’s CAC was down 0.18 percent and so was Germany’s DAX, down 1.14 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.07 percent up.

Photo : AFP