Sensex at another record high; capital goods stocks gain

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets again scaled a new record, closing at a high of 21,374 points Thursday on back of healthy buying in capital goods and consumer durables stocks.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 21,319.69 points, closed at 21,373.66 points, up 35.99 points or 0.17 percent from its previous day's close at 21,337.67 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 21,409.66 points and a low of 21,264.71 intra-day.

This is the record closing high for the benchmark Sensex. The previous record closing high was reached Wednesday at 21,337.67 points. Before that the record closing high stood at 21,326.42 points, which was reached on Dec 9, 2013, after results of five state assembly elections were announced.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed trade 6.70 points or 0.11 percent up at 6,345.65 points.

Healthy buying support was observed in capital goods, consumer durables and healthcare stocks. However, automobile, metal and oil and gas scrips declined.

In Thursday's trade, the S&P BSE capital goods index was up 178.71 points followed by consumer durables index which was higher by 130.45 points, and healthcare index 12.66 points up.

However, the S&P automobile index was down 129.40, metal index was lower by 49.08 points and oil and gas index lost 40.09 points.

The major gainers were: Larsen and Toubro (L&T), up 2.81 percent at Rs.1,033; Axis Bank, up 2.48 percent at Rs.1,216.30; Gail India, up 2.23 percent at Rs.350.85; Sun Pharma, up 1.90 percent at Rs.608.80; and HDFC, up 1.64 percent at Rs.856.05.

The main losers were: Mahindra nd Mahindra, down 2.82 percent at Rs.890.20; ONGC, down 1.33 percent at Rs.285.75; NTPC, down 1.09 percent at Rs.131.10; Coal India, down 0.99 percent at Rs.259.30; and Tata Consultancy Service (TCS), down 0.89 percent at Rs.2,254.15.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.79 percent down, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.51 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.47 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.09 percent down. However, Germany's DAX Index was lower by 0.11 percent and the French CAC 40 Index gained by 0.15 percent.