Sensex closes flat; auto stocks down

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Thursday closed 24 points or 0.11 percent down, a day after it rallied 256 points on the back of the fall in December inflation.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 21,366.91 points, closed at 21,265.18 points, down 24.31 points or 0.11 percent from its previous day's close at 21,289.49 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 21,379.29 points and a low of 21,199.65 intra-day.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed trade two points or 0.03 percent down at 6,318.90 points.

In Thursday's trade, the S&P BSE automobile index was down 101.67 points followed by healthcare index which lost 58.65 points and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) index was 52.55 points down.

However, the S&P metal index was up 167.08 points, information technology (IT) which gained 54.15 points and capital goods index was up by 24.09 points.

The major gainers were: Coal India, up 2.56 percent at Rs.302.70; Hindalco Inds, up 1.85 percent at Rs.113; Wipro, up 1.84 percent at Rs.570.40; HDFC, up 1.80 percent at Rs.860.20; and BHEL, up 1.74 percent at Rs.169.10.

The main losers were: Bharti Airtel, down 4.84 percent at Rs.315.50; Tata Motors, down 1.86 percent at Rs.369.75; Sun Pharma, down 1.72 percent at Rs.593.25; ONGC, down 1.48 percent at Rs.287; and Cipla, down 1.29 percent at Rs.412.65.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.39 percent down, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.37 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index was marginally higher by 0.02 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.09 percent up. However, Germany's DAX Index was lower by 0.09 percent and the French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.07 percent.