Sensex closes nearly one percent up; auto, bank stocks gain

Mumbai  :  A benchmark index of the Indian equities markets Friday closed nearly one percent up, on the back of positive global cues and positive industrial production data.

The sentiments were bullish on the back of positive government data which showed India’s industrial output grew by 2.5 percent in March 2013.

There was a healthy buying spree in stocks like automobile, bank, consumer durables, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and healthcare, while, scrips of metal and power firms came under selling pressure.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the red at 19,911.08 points, closed at 20,082.62 points, up 143.58 points or 0.72 percent from its previous day close at 19,939.04 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 20,119.14 points and a low of 19,908.80 points in intra-day trade.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended the day’s trade 0.74 percent, or 44.60 points, up at 6,094.75 points.

India’s industrial output grew by 2.5 percent in March 2013, as against a contraction of 2.8 percent in the corresponding month of 2012, government data showed.

According to data released by the Central Statistical Office (CSO), the index of industrial production (IIP) logged a meagre 0.6 percent growth year-on-year in February 2013. IIP grew by 2.4 percent in January, 2013.

Stocks like automobile, bank, consumer durables, FMCG and healthcare witnessed a healthy buying spree.

The automobile index was up 242.64 points, followed by the bank index up 177.90 points, consumer durables index up 152.66 points, the FMCG index was trading 96.40 points higher and healthcare index was up 30.42 percent.

Scrips of metal and power firms, however, came under selling pressure.

The BSE metal index was down 19.26 points followed by the power index, down 5.27 points.

Of the 30 sensitive stocks on the BSE, 18 closed in positive territory. These included Maruti Suzuki, up 3.99 percent at Rs.1,726.15; Tata Motors, up 2.92 percent at Rs.308.55; Hindalco Inds, up 2.71 percent at Rs.106.10; ITC, up 2.47 percent at Rs.352.95; and Mahindra and Mahindra, up 2.33 percent at Rs.969.65.

The major Sensex losers were: Coal India, down 2.96 percent at Rs.299.75; Jindal Steel, down 2.00 percent at Rs.311.65; Sun Pharma, down 1.40 percent at Rs.935.20; NTPC, down 0.83 percent at Rs.155.15; and Reliance Industries, down 0.73 percent at Rs.812.10.

Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei closed 2.93 percent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng went down by 0.47 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index closed lower by 0.62 percent.

In the European markets, Britain’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.32 percent up and so was the German DAX, up 0.32 percent. The French CAC 40 was ruling up 0.44 percent.

Photo  : AFP