4th highest closing for Sensex ever

Mumbai: The markets ended higher as metal, auto, cement, FMCG stocks led the markets through the day.

This is the fourth highest closing for the Sensex ever. However, the Nifty failed to close above the psychological barrier of 3600.

The Sensex finished at 12,454.42, up 73.68 points or 0.60 per cent. It touched an intraday high of 12,485.17 and an intraday low of 12,381.29.

The Nifty closed up 16.65 points or 0.47 per cent at 3588.40. It touched an intraday high of 3599.80 and an intraday low of 3564.70.

The BSE Midcap and Small Cap was up 1.41 per cent and 1.16 per cent at 5,148.38 and 6,161.73, respectively.

The market breadth was positive, about 1576 shares advanced, 878 shares declined, and 63 shares remained unchanged.

The NSE and BSE cash turnover were Rs 7,098.82 crore (Rs 70.98 billion) and Rs 3,674.67 crore (Rs 36.74 billion), respectively. The total turnover was Rs 29,583.74 crore (Rs 295.83 billion). The NSE F&O turnover was Rs 18,810.25 crore (Rs 188.10 billion).

Top gainers were Maruti Udyog (4.12 per cent), Tata Steel (3.22 per cent), Bajaj Auto (2.49 per cent), Tata Motors (2.33 per cent) and SAIL (3.45 per cent).

However, Hero Honda (-1.84 per cent), ICICI Bank (-1.32 per cent), ONGC (-0.82 per cent), Cipla (-0.66 per cent), Nalco (-2.95 per cent), GAIL (-2.43 per cent) and Oriental Bank (-2.25 per cent) were biggest losers.

The BSE Metal Index outperformed other indices. It rose 163.19 points or 1.96% to close at 8,508.79 as metal stocks like JindalStainless, SAIL, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and Jindal Saw ended in the green.

Cement stocks like ACC, Grasim, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, JK Cement, UltraTech Cement, Shree Digvijay Cement and Andhra Cements were gainers.

Consumer durables stocks were in the limelight today, which includes Mirc Electronic, Titan Industries, Blue Star and Samtel Color. The BSE Consumer Durables Index was up 1.86 per cent at 3,102.34.

Auto stocks including Cummins, Sundaram-Clayton, Maruti Udyog, Escorts and Asahi India also firmed up. The BSE Auto Index gained 1.80 per cent to end at 5,365.72.

The BSE FMCG Index rose 1.44 per cent to finish at 2,065.74. The buying interest was seen in Shaw Wallace, Nirma, ITC, Britannia and Nestle.

Capital goods stocks including Gammon India, Greaves Cotton, Dredging Corp, Alstom Projects and Bharat Elec witnessed hefty gains. The BSE Capital Goods Index moved up 0.83 per cent at 8,203.14.

The BSE Healthcare Index closed at 3,684.44, up 0.72 per cent. Divis Labs, Sterling Bio, FDC, Apollo Hospital and Novartis India spurted up.

Technology stocks like Moser Baer, Hexaware Tech, Wipro and Satyam flared up; the BSE IT Index ended flat at 4,393.56 with upward bias.

However, the BSE Bankex, which was the biggest gainer yesterday with 3.7 per cent, closed down 0.91 per cent at 6,038.87. Banking stocks including Canara Bank, UTI Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Oriental Bank and Union Bank tumbled.

The BSE Oil & Gas Index also finished in red at 5,803.31, down 5.28 points as GAIL, Reliance Natural, HPCL, BPCL and ONGC lost ground.