Mumbai, April 18 (IANS) A benchmark index of the Indian equities markets rose more than one-and-half percent Thursday after a smart rally in interest-sensitive stocks like banks, capital goods and automobiles on hopes of an interest rate cut by the central bank early next month.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the red at 18,695.34 points, closed at 19,016.46 points, up 1.52 percent or 285.30 points from its previous day close at 18,731.16 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 19,058.80 points and low of 18,691.61 points intra-day.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended 1.66 percent or 94.40 points up at 5,783.10 points.
The BSE bank index was up 341.45 points, capital goods index up 242.19 percent, automobile index 230.64 points higher, and consumer durables index 192.54 points and oil and gas stocks 114.65 points up.
However, the informational technology (IT) index fell 18.11 points.
Of the 30 Sensex scrips, 26 closed in the positive. Prominent among these were Bharti Airtel, up 4.65 percent at Rs.299.45; Tata Motors, up 3.98 percent at Rs.282.30; Larsen and Toubro (L&T), up 3.61 percent at Rs.1,472.80; HDFC, up 3.34 percent at Rs.818.65; and Gail India, up 3.20 percent up Rs.332.20.
The four losers were Wipro, down 1.68 percent at Rs.368.65; Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), down 0.58 percent at Rs.1,450.70; Sun Pharma, down 0.04 percent at Rs.916.05; and Dr Reddys Lab, down 0.02 percent at Rs.1,904.65.
Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.22 percent down, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down by 0.26 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index was higher by 0.17 percent.
At closing bell here, Britain’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.33 percent up and so was German DAX, up 0.39 percent. The French CAC 40 was also ruling 0.72 percent up.
The Indian stock markets will be closed Friday in view of Ram Navami.
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