Sensex, Nifty close lower in volatile trade (Roundup)

A benchmark index for Indian equities, the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange, closed 50.45 points, or 0.18 percent, down in a volatile trade on Tuesday.

The 30-share Sensex, which opened at 27,561.32 points, closed at 27,440.14 points -- down 50.45 points, or 0.18 percent, over the previous trading day's close at 27,490.59 points. It touched a high of 27,603.71 points and a low of 27,338.23 points in Tuesday's trade.

The wider Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also closed 7.15 points or 0.09 percent lower.

In Tuesday's trade, good buying was observed in metal, oil and gas, realty and healthcare sectors, while selling pressure was seen in power and consumer durables sector.

Foreign funds remained net sellers to the tune of $481.26 million on Tuesday.

Among the 12 sector-specific indices of the Mumbai bourse, metal index gained by 2.86 percent, oil and gas index moved up by 0.95 percent, realty index increased by 0.93 percent and healthcare index got augmented by 0.52 percent.

However, power index dropped by 0.84 percent and consumer durables index slipped by 0.60 percent.

The 100-scrip and 200-scrip indices were up by 0.03 percent and 0.09 percent, respectively. Mid-cap index was higher by around 0.60 percent and small-cap stocks ended 0.08 percent higher.

The major Sensex gainers on Tuesday were: Sesa Sterlite, up 6.64 percent at Rs.226.40; Tata Steel, up 4.95 percent at Rs.379.20; Hindalco, up 4.65 percent at Rs.139.45; and ONGC, up 4.35 percent at Rs.341.90.

The losers were: HDFC, down 1.88 percent at Rs.1,179.70; State Bank of India, down 1.86 percent at Rs.272.15; Mahindra & Mahindra, down 1.81 percent at Rs.1177.60; and Cipla, down 1.71 percent at Rs.662.50.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei went up by 0.06 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index went down by 4.06 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was lower by 1.31 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 went up by 0.43 percent, France's CAC 40 gained by 0.04 percent, while Germany's DAX Index was lower by 0.14 percent at the closing in the Indian markets.