Sensex up 115 points after two days of losses

Snapping losses of two days, a benchmark index of Indian equities markets ended 115 points or 0.56 percent up Thursday ahead of the expiry of November derivative contracts.

Good buying was observed in capital goods, metal, and oil and gas sectors, while marginal selling pressure was seen in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,522.36 points, closed at 20,534.91 points, up 114.65 points or 0.56 percent from its previous day close at 20,420.26 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 20,606.38 points and a low of 20,461.51 points intra-day.

The S&P BSE capital goods index gained 181.34 points, metal index moved up by 86.95 points and oil and gas index inched up by 75.02 points. However, FMCG index slipped by 6.54 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed trade 34.75 points or 0.57 percent up at 6,091.85 points.

Major Sensex gainers were: Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, up 3.04 percent at Rs.150.85; Hindalco Industries, up 2.36 percent at Rs.121.45; Mahindra & Mahindra, up 1.78 percent at Rs.958; and Coal India, up 1.70 percent at Rs.269.85.

The main losers were: Cipla, down 0.55 percent at Rs.380; Tata Motors, down 0.31 percent at Rs.398; and ICICI Bank, down 0.24 percent at Rs.1,039.70.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 1.80 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index was up by 0.83 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.07 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.16 percent up, Germany's DAX Index was up 0.41 percent and the French CAC 40 Index was up by 0.31 percent.