Sensex closes 161 points up; capital goods, bank stocks rally
Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities markets rose 161 points or 0.84 percent Thursday, as capital goods, bank and information technology (IT) stocks gained. Consumer durables, metal and public sector undertakings (PSUs) scrips, however, came under selling pressure.
The 30-scrip Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,222.05 points, closed at 19,413.54 points, up 160.93 points or 0.84 percent from its previous close at 19,252.61 points.
The Sensex touched an intra-day high of 19,465.52 points and a low of 19,212.92 points. The midcap index closed 30.74 points up, while the smallcap index ended 52.74 points higher.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed higher by 44.70 points or 0.77 percent at 5,863.30 points.
The BSE capital goods index was up 154.47 points, while the bank index gained 117.75 points and the IT index closed 115.01 points higher.
The BSE consumer durables index was down 40.96 points, followed by the metal index, down 40.21 points, and the PSUs index, down 7.61 points.
Only 20 out of 30 Sensex companies were gainers, including Hero MotoCorp, up 4.05 percent at Rs.1,713.20; Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), up 2.10 percent at Rs.1,590.45; Larsen and Toubro (L&T), up 2.08 percent at Rs.1,463.45; Maruti Suzuki, up 2.07 percent at Rs.1,451.50; and Wipro, up 1.82 percent at Rs.449.15.
The major losers included Jindal Steel, down 2.28 percent at Rs.347.35; Hindustan Unilever, down 1.69 percent at Rs.433.20; Coal India, down 1.25 percent at Rs.313; Tata Motors, down 1.07 percent at Rs.305.95; and Tata Steel, down 0.74 percent at Rs.350.25.
Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.30 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 0.03 percent down. China’s Shanghai Composite Index also closed 0.98 percent lower.
In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.40 percent, and the German DAX was trading 0.23 percent higher. The French CAC 40 was up 0.43 percent.
