Sensex closes in red; metal stocks down (Roundup)

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Friday closed in the red - falling 47 points or 0.17 percent, as metal, capital goods and automobile scrip came under heavy selling pressure.

However, healthy buying spree was observed in healthcare, realty and consumer durables sectors.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 27,902.71 points, closed trade at 27,868.63 points, down 47.25 points or 0.17 percent from the previous day's close at 27,915.88 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 27,980.93 points and a low of 27,739.56 points in the intra-trade.

"Equity valuations will remain at elevated levels because of the strong flows from both FIIs (foreign institutional investors) and domestic investors. The superior returns generated by equities over other asset class will also lead to higher flows in equities in future," said Rajesh Iyer, head of investment advisory services at Kotak Wealth Management.

The S&P metal index dropped by 146.10 points, capital goods index fell by 116.06 points and automobile index went down by 85.14 points.

However, healthcare index gained by 332 points, followed by realty index which rose by 39.04 points and consumer durables index was up 33.80 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed the day's trade in the red. It was down 0.02 percent or 1.30 points at 8,337 points.

The major Sensex gainers were DrReddy, up 4.51 percent at Rs.3,400; Sun Pharma, up 2.53 percent at Rs.891.65; Axis Bank, up 2.44 percent at Rs.468.85, Hindustan Unilever, up 1.84 percent at Rs.759.25 and ONGC, up 1.44 percent at Rs.409.25.

Major Sensex losers were BHEL, down 3.21 percent at Rs.249.10, Gail, down 2.46 percent at Rs.485, Sesa Sterlite, down 2.09 percent at Rs.246.15, Hero MotoCorp, down 1.99 percent at Rs.2,898.50 and HDFC Bank, down 1.51 percent at Rs.899.

Among the Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index was up 0.18 percent, however, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost by 0.28 percent. Singapore's Straits Times index was down 0.14 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was up 0.53 percent, France's CAC 40 was down 0.50 percent higher and Germany's DAX Index decreased by 0.18 percent.