Sensex ends in positive for fourth day; up 66 points

A benchmark index of the Indian equities markets closed in the positive for fourth consecutive session, helped by buying support in metal, realty, and auto stocks.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened sharply higher at 20,441.04 points, ended the day at 20,376.56 points -- up 0.32 percent or 65.82 points from its previous day close at 20,310.74 points.

This is the fourth consecutive day of rally in the benchmark Sensex. It touched a one week high Friday.

The Sensex hit a high of 20,450.51 points and low of 20,282.30 points in the intra-day.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 0.45 percent or 26.90 points higher at 6,063.20 points.

Among the sectoral indices of the BSE, metal, realty, healthcare, auto and power led the gains, while IT, FMCG and consumer durables ended in the red.

The BSE metal index surged 2.66 percent. Realty index rose 1.04 percent; banking index rose 0.64 percent; auto index advanced 0.77 percent and healthcare index rallied 1.69 percent.

Tata Steel was the biggest Sensex gainer. The scrip surged 6.39 percent at Rs.384.45. SSLT, up 3.66 percent at Rs.189.95; Sun Pharma, up 2.80 percent at Rs.601.30; Axis Bank, up 2.08 percent at Rs.1125.75; and Bajaj Auto, up 2.03 percent at Rs.1935.20 were among the prominent Sensex gainers.

Only 10 of the 30 Sensex scrips closed in the red. Hindustan Unilever, down 1.52 percent at Rs.577.65; TCS, down 1.44 percent at Rs.2143.35; Wipro, down 1.30 percent at Rs.560.95; BHEL, down 0.73 percent at Rs.155.55; and ITC, down 0.37 percent at Rs.323.40 were among the major losers.