Sensex rebounds 88 points; ONGC, RIL climb

Indian equities markets benchmark indices rebounded Tuesday, with the benchmark Sensex rising 88 points led by strong buying support in oil and gas and FMCG stocks.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the positive at 18,602.25 points, closed at 18629.15 points, up 0.48 percent or 88.26 points, from its previous day close at 18,540.89 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 18,802.31 points and a low of 18,487.30 points in the intra-day trade.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 0.34 percent or 18.85 points higher at 5,609.10 points.

The index recovered from a two-month low on the back of buying support in oil and gas, FMCG and capital goods stocks.

The BSE oil and gas index climbed 1.53 percent, the capital goods index rose 0.68 percent, the FMCG index rose 0.54 percent and the auto index closed 0.51 percent higher.

Bharti Airtel, up 4.34 percent at Rs.295.40; ONGC, up 3.80 percent at Rs.310.20; Mahindra & Mahindra, up 3.18 percent at Rs.956.40; Hindalco, up 2.76 percent at Rs.96.80 and ITC, up 1.84 percent at Rs.320.20 were among the prominent Sensex gainers.

Major Sensex losers included NTPC, down 2.61 percent at Rs.138.25; Tata Power, down 2.07 percent at Rs.80.40; SBI, down 1.75 percent at Rs.1,914.75; ICICI Bank, down 1.56 percent at Rs.1,033.25 and Coal India, down 1.30 percent at Rs.293.40.