Sensex closes above 28,000-mark, banking stocks rally (Roundup)

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Wednesday touched a record high of 28,126.48 points, surpassing its previous high of 28,027.96 points of Nov 10.

The benchmark index, however, ended at 28,008.90 points, up 98.84 points or 0.35 percent from its previous day's close of 27,910.06 points.

Healthy buying was observed in banking, automobile and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors, while selling pressure was seen in metal, healthcare and oil and gas segments.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 27,958.64 points, closed the trade at 28,008.90 points, up 98.84 points or 0.35 percent from the previous day's close at 27,910.06 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 28,126.48 points and a low of 27,958.64 points in the trade so far.

"Markets are trading near their all-time high levels. For the day, they consolidated around the all-time high levels. Further fall in crude prices and expectations of further reforms kept sentiments positive," said Dipen Shah, head - private client group research, Kotak Securities.

"Markets are expecting the CPI to trend further lower. The fall in CPI over the past few months has led to expectations of an early interest rate cut."

The S&P bank index gained 223.20 points, the automobile index went up by 217.16 points and FMCG index was up 74.09 points while metal index dropped by 102.29 points, followed by healthcare index, which declined by 70.98 points, and oil and gas index which was down 57.60 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too closed in the positive territory. It was up 20.65 points or 0.25 percent up at 8,383.30 points after hitting record high of 8,415.05 earlier in the day.

The major Sensex gainers were: Axis Bank, up 3.02 percent at Rs.480.90; Bajaj Auto, up 2.10 percent at Rs.2,598.90; Tata Motors, up 1.71 percent at Rs.530.60; ITC, up 1.55 percent at Rs.369.40; and Hero MotoCorp, up 1.50 percent at Rs.2,967.40.

The major Sensex losers were: Cipla, down 3.06 percent at Rs.618.50; Tata Power, down 2.47 percent at Rs.91; Tata Steel, down 2.38 percent at Rs.468.30; NTPC, down 2.26 percent at Rs.142.45; and Larsen and Toubro (L&T), down 1.22 percent at Rs.1,614.

Among other Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei index was up 0.41 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.25 percent, while Shanghai's Composite Index slipped 1.00 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was down 0.23 percent, while France's CAC 40 was lower by 0.54 percent, and Germany's DAX Index lost 0.80 percent.