Sensex closes flat; IT stocks down

Mumbai  : A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed flat in Wednesday’s trade as information technology (IT) stocks fell.

The market sentiment was subdued as IT, healthcare and technology, entertainment and media (TECk) stocks were down. However, automobile, consumer durables and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) scrips surged.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,449 points, closed at 20,420.26 points, down 4.76 points or 0.02 percent from its previous day’s close at 20,425.02 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 20,482.67 points and a low of 20,348.06 points intra-day.

The S&P BSE bank index was down 191.76 points, oil and gas was 105.09 points lower, and power index lost 77.81 points.

Meanwhile, automobile index increased by 59.77 points, capital goods index moved up by 30.46 points and PSU index gained 5.81 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed Wednesday’s trade 2.00 points down or 0.03 percent lower at 6,057.10 points.

Major Sensex gainers were: Tata Motors, up 2.31 percent at Rs.399.25; ITC, up 1.03 percent at Rs.314.05; ONGC, up 0.98 percent at Rs.289.60; Coal India, up 0.84 percent at Rs.265.35; and Dr.Reddy’s Lab, up 0.77 percent at Rs.2,425.80.

The main losers were: Bharti Airtel, down 1.76 percent at Rs.321.80; NTPC, down 1.41 percent at Rs.146.65; State Bank Of India (SBI), down 1.23 percent at Rs.1,763.90; Sesa Sterlite, down 1.22 percent at Rs.74.25; and Wipro, down 1.06 percent at Rs.469.90.

Among the Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.42 percent down, China’s Shanghai Composite Index was up by 0.82 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 0.53 percent.

In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.12 percent up, Germany’s DAX Index was higher by 0.23 percent and the French CAC 40 Index was trading by 0.21 percent up.