Sensex closes highest in nearly four weeks; reclaims 26,000-mark

Mumbai, Dec 28: A benchmark index for Indian equities, the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange, closed 195.42 points or 0.76 percent up — highest in almost four weeks, as buyers picked up defensive stocks. The 30-share Sensex, which opened at 25,858.52 points, closed at 26,034.13 points — 195.42 points, or 0.76 percent up. It touched a high of 26,073.41 points and a low of 25,856.86 points in Monday’s trade. The wider Nifty of the tiol Stock Exchange also closed 64.10 points or 0.82 percent higher at 7,925.15 points.

“The market touched the key resistance level of 7,900-mark in the trade today, despite a mixed trend seen in other Asian markets. We have seen buying interests on defensive stocks and some over-sold stocks in the index,” Vinod ir, head - fundamental research, Geojit BNP Paribas Fincial Services.“

“Continued strengthening of rupee on eight consecutive trading session, buying interest by domestic investors and upsurge in index heavy weights helped the indices to stay in positive zone throughout the day,” Gaurav Jain, director, Hem Securities said.

Good buying was observed in healthcare, utilities, auto and power sectors, while selling pressure was seen in telecom and metal sectors. The S&P BSE healthcare index gained by 1.34 percent, utilities index moved up by 1.17 percent, auto index went up by 0.96 percent and power index got augmented by 0.93 percent. However, telecom index dropped by 0.96 percent and metal index fell by 0.77 percent.

The 100-scrip and 200-scrip indices were up by 0.63 percent and 0.59 percent, respectively. Mid-cap index was higher by around 0.14 percent and small-cap stocks ended 0.47 percent higher. The major Sensex gainers on Monday were: Dr.Reddy’s up 3.52 percent at Rs.3116.35; NTPC, up 3.38 percent at Rs.143.75; Tata Motors, up 2.84 percent at Rs.393.25; and ONGC, up 2.56 percent at Rs.239.95. The losers were: Tata Steel, down 3.59 percent at Rs.254.05; and Bharti Airtel, down 2.14 percent at Rs.331.15.

Among the Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei went up by 0.56 percent, while Chi’s Shanghai Composite Index went down by 2.57 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was lower by 0.99 percent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 moved up by 0.22 percent, while France’s CAC 40 fell by 0.65 percent, and Germany’s DAX Index was lower by 0.43 percent at the closing in the Indian markets. (IANS)