Sensex closes on high despite rains

Mumbai: The markets closed in the positive terrain despite weak cues from its Asian peers. The markets opened weak but picked up momentum during the later part of the day.

After the initial hicups the Sensex moved north to breach the 10,900 level. The Nifty closed near the the 3200 mark.

The Sensex closed at 10,919.64 up 257.42 points and the Nifty closed at 3197 up 58 points.

The BSE Small Cap Index closed at 5,349.32, up 24 points.

The BSE Midcap Index ended at 4,427.06, up 36 points.

About 1284 shares have advanced, 1033 shares declined, and 84 shares are unchanged.

The major gainers on the indices were Reliance Energy, HDFC, Grasim, Suzlon and ABB.

All the BSE sectoral indices closed in the positive terrain. FMCG and metal stocks are witnessed heavy buying and were leading the rally.

The BSE Metal Index advanced by 3.3 per cent at 8,764.86. Hind Zinc, Tata Steel, Jindal Saw and Sterlite Ind witnessed heavy buying interest.

The BSE FMCG Index was up 3.2 per cent at 2,005.57. Nestle, HLL, ITC, Dabur India and P&G closed in green.

The BSE Capital Goods Index was up 2.3 per cent at 7,112.69. Praj Industries, ABB, Crompton Greave, BEML and L&T closed higher.

The BSE Bankex was up two per cent at 4,499.30. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Union Bank, UTI Bank and Bank of India Bank surged.

The BSE Health Care Index was up by 1.94 per cent at 3,167.56. Apollo Hospital, Aurobindo Pharma, Matrix Lab, Orchid Chemical and Cipla were among the major gainers.

The BSE Oil and Gas Index rose 1.8 per cent at 5,432.22. IOC, Reliance, HPCL and Chennai Petro advanced higher.

The BSE Auto Index added 1.2 per cent at 4,812.95. Apollo Tyres, Tube Investment, Bharat Forge and MICO closed in positive terrain.

The BSE IT Index was up by 1.2 per cent at 3,843.59. HCL Tech, I-Flex Solution, TCS, HCL Info and Infosys moved up.

The BSE Consumer Durables Index gained 0.77 per cent at 2,767.70. BPL, Titan Industries, Samtel Color and Blue Star moved up.

The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 6051.98 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 20136.86 crore. The BSE cash turnover was Rs 2762.75 crore. Total market wide turnover was at Rs 28951.59 crore.