Sensex closes 170 points up; bank, capital goods gain

A benchmark index of Indian equities Tuesday closed 170 points higher, as bank, capital goods and automobile stocks rallied.

The markets were upbeat a day after Finance Minister P. Chidambaram presented the interim budget for 2014-15 and announced excise duty cuts for auto, capital goods sector and capital infusion in public sector banks.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,457.56 points, closed trade at 20,634.21 points, up 170.15 points or 0.83 percent from the previous day's close at 20,464.06 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 20,685.02 points and a low of 20,436.48 points during the trade so far.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 53.80 points or 0.89 percent up at 6,127.10 points.

The S&P BSE bank index was up 275.85 points, followed by capital goods index which closed higher by 196.52 points. The automobile index moved up with 116.23 points, followed by the metal index, up 92.80 points, and the consumer durables index, up 31.32 points.

However, the S&P BSE fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) index was down 18.96 points, and information technology (IT) index fell 1.68 points.

The prominent Sensex gainers were Axis Bank, up 4.42 percent at Rs.1,164.60; HDFC, up 2.99 percent at Rs.803.90; ICICI Bank, up 2.80 percent at Rs.1,037.75; Maruti Suzuki, up 2.57 percent at Rs.1,708.95; and Tata Power, up 2.45 percent at Rs.79.30.

The major losers included Gail India, down 1.45 percent at Rs.357.15; Bharti Airtel, down 0.95 percent at Rs.302.20; ITC, down 0.80 percent at Rs.317.40; Wipro, down 0.68 percent at Rs.557.05; and Coal India, down 0.55 percent at Rs.255.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 3.13 percent up, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.23 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.77 percent.

At closing bell here, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.02 percent down. Germany's DAX Index was also lower by 0.20 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index declined 0.51 percent.