Sensex marginally in the red; auto stocks gain

A day after it gained 240 points on the back of positive macro economic data, a barometer index of the Indian equity markets was trading marginally in the red during the mid-afternoon session on Thursday.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was marginally down by 12 points or 0.04 percent during the mid-afternoon trade session.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was also trading flat during the session under review. It was slightly up by 6.45 points or 0.08 percent at 8,459.50 points.

The 30-scrip S&P BSE Sensex, which opened at 28,100.38 points, was trading at 28,009.35 points (at 1.15 p.m.), down 11.52 points or 0.04 percent from its previous day's close at 28,020.87 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 28,115.96 points and a low of 27,961.08 points so far in the trade.

During Thursday's intra-day trade so far, healthy buying took place in automobile, oil and gas, healthcare, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and bank sectors.

The S&P BSE automobile index augmented by 119.21 points, oil and gas index rose by 93.60 points, healthcare index gained by 47.06 points, FMCG index edged higher by 44.76 points and bank index was up by 40.18 points.

The S&P BSE metal index was lower by 63.91 points, followed by consumer durables index fell by 57.34 points and information technology (IT) index decreased by 29.13 points.