Sensex closes flat; capital goods stocks plunge

A key index of the Indian equities markets Tuesday closed flat as a result of profit bookings, a day after it rallied 329.89 points, on the back of the recent state election results.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 21,293.58 points, closed at 21,255.26 points - down 71.16 points or 0.33 percent from its previous day's close at 21,326.42 points.

The benchmark touched a high of 21,327.75 intra-day and a low of 21,175.08 points.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too closed flat.

It ended in negative territory down 31.05 points or 0.49 percent at 6,332.85 points.

On Monday, the Sensex closed at a new closing high of 21,326.42 points.

There was heavy selling pressure on capital goods, banks and power stocks in the day's trade. However, information technology (IT), metal and technology, entertainment and media (TECk) stocks gained.

The S&P BSE capital goods index was down by 316.20 points, followed by bank index which was up 244.17 points and power index was 71.40 points down. However, IT index closed 175.12 points higher, metal index was up 90.05 points and TECk index gained by 70.74 points.

Major Sensex gainers were: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), up 3.95 percent at Rs.2,082.25; Hero MotoCorp, up 3.83 percent at Rs.2,203.10; Sesa Sterlite, 2.32 percent at Rs.196.05; Wipro, up 1.84 percent at Rs.516.50; and ITC, up 1.52 percent at Rs.317.75.

The main losers were: NTPC, down 11.26 percent at Rs.136; Larsen and Toubro (L&T), down four percent at Rs.1,100.25; BHEL, down 3.52 percent at Rs.165.65; ICICI Bank, down 3.49 percent at Rs.1,159.75; and State Bank of India (SBI), down 2.36 percent at Rs.1,844.55.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.25 percent down and China's Shanghai Composite Index was lower by 0.03 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.28 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.15 percent up, Germany's DAX Index was higher by 0.16 percent and the French CAC 40 Index gained by 0.14 percent.