Sensex closes 192 points up; Nifty above 8,400-mark

Mumbai, May 20 : A key Indian equities index, the 30-scrip BSE sensitive index (Sensex), on Wednesday ended 191.68 points or 0.69 percent higher as blue chip stocks advanced on resumption of buying by foreign investors. The 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange, which opened at 27,749.30 points, closed at 27,837.21 points. It touched a high of 27,903.01 points and a low of 27,743.99 points in Wednesday’s trade.

The wider Nifty of the tiol Stock Exchange also closed 57.60 points or 0.69 percent higher at 8,423.25 points. For both Sensex and Nifty, this marked their highest close since April 22. “Indian shares closed at their highest level in nearly one month on Wednesday as blue chips advanced on resumption of buying by foreign investors,” brokerage firm Sharekhan said.

It also added that forecast of a timely monsoon continued to raise hopes among investors that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would lower interest rates in June. In Wednesday’s trade, good buying was observed in information technology (IT), technology, media and entertainment (TECK) and banking sectors, while selling pressure was seen in metal sector.

Among the 12 sector-specific indices of the Mumbai bourse, IT index gained by 1.78 percent, TECK index moved up by 1.51 percent and bankex rose by 0.86 percent. However, metal index dropped by 0.77 percent. The 100-scrip and 200-scrip indices were higher by 0.57 percent and 0.53 percent, respectively. Mid-cap index ended flat and small-cap stocks ended 0.17 percent higher. The major Sensex gainers on Wednesday were: HDFC, up 2.11 percent at Rs.1,267.30; Wipro, up 2.03 percent at Rs.564.10; TCS, up 1.82 percent at Rs.2,557.55; and Tata Power, up 1.78 percent at Rs.77.20.

The losers were: Bajaj Auto, down 2.22 percent at Rs.2,150.50; Tata Steel, down 1.85 percent at Rs.361.35; BHEL, down 1.51 percent at Rs.231.30; and Coal India, down 1.17 percent at Rs.360.05. Among the Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei went up by 0.85 percent, Chi’s Shanghai Composite Index ended 0.70 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was lower by 0.39 percent.

In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 went up by 0.14 percent, while France’s CAC 40 was lower by 0.19 percent, and Germany’s DAX Index was down by 0.18 percent at the closing in the Indian markets. (IANS)