Mumbai, July 4 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Wednesday closed just 37 points higher, shedding most of the gains made earlier in the day. Oil and gas, FMCG and IT stocks came under selling pressure.
The Sensex had gained over 92 points in early trade.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,473.26 points, closed at 17,462.81 points, up 0.21 percent or just 37.10 points from its previous close at 17,425.71 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 17,523.77 points and a low of 17,372.45 intra-day. The BSE midcap index rose 53.99 points while the smallcap index gained 58.57 points.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange ended 0.28 percent higher at 5,302.55 points.
The BSE oil and gas index was down 45.94 points, while FMCG was down 23.02 points. The IT index was down 21.86 points.
Major Sensex gainers were Sterlite Inds, up 5.27 percent at Rs.110.90; Jindal Steel, up 3.37 percent at Rs.466.30; Maruti Suzuki, up 2.56 percent at Rs.1,221.75; Bharti Airtel, up 2.19 percent at Rs.326.50; and SBI, up 1.85 percent at Rs.2,224.25
The main losers were ONGC, down 1.68 percent at Rs.284.65; Dr Reddy’s Lab, down 1.57 at Rs.1,642; Wipro, down 1.47 percent at Rs.394.75; Hindustan Unilever, down 0.98 percent at Rs.438.05; and Coal India, down 0.79 percent at Rs.353.80.
In the Asian region, the Japan’s Nikkei closed up 0.41 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.13 percent and China’s Composite index fell 0.08 percent.
At the closing bell here, European markets were trading in the red. France’s CAC was 0.70 percent down, while Germany’s DAX and Britain’s FTSE 100 were trading 0.71 percent and 0.19 percent lower respectively.
