Sensex ends flat; consumer durables, oil and gas stocks lose

Mumbai   :  A benchmark index for Indian equities markets Monday closed 14 points lower following selling pressure in consumer durables, oil and gas, and information technology (IT) stocks.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,442.19 points, ended the day at 19,409.69 points, down 14.41 points or 0.07 percent from its previous close at 19,424.10 points.

The index touched a high of 19,478.01 points and low of 19,362.32 points intra-day. The BSE midcap index was up 46.23 points, while the smallcap index edged higher by 24.10 points.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was down 9.40 points or 0.16 percent at 5,898.00 points.

The BSE consumer durables index was down 123.96 points. The oil and gas index ended lower by 61.54 points, followed by IT index down 50.19 points, capital goods index down 37.52 points, and media, entertainment and technology (TECk) index down by 30.57 points.

The healthcare index was up by 37.13 points, and so were the bank index 25.14 points, and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) index 11.63 points.

Among the gainers were HDFC, up 3.15 percent at Rs.863.35; Dr Reddy’s Lab, up 2.51 percent at Rs.1,884.55; Cipla, up 1.73 percent at Rs.417.30; Tata Steel, up 1.35 percent at Rs.400.25; and Sun Pharma, up 1.10 percent at Rs.707.20.

The major losers were Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), 2.50 percent lower at Rs.1,236.30; NTPC, down 1.91 points at Rs.156.90; Bharti Airtel, down 1.46 percent at Rs.317.80; Maruti Suzuki, down 1.13 percent at Rs.1,492.95; and Mahindra and Mahindra, down 0.90 percent at Rs.928.45.

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.39 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index closed higher by 1.07 percent.

European markets were flat with Britain’s FTSE 100 down 0.28 percent. The German DAX was trading lower by 0.62 percent while the French CAC 40 index was down 0.68 percent.

Photo  : AFP