By IANS
Mumbai : The benchmark stock market index Wednesday maintained its rise for the third consecutive day but posted only marginal gains over apprehensions of what the Indian budget, to be presented Feb 29, holds in store.
With modest cues emerging from global markets, the markets started with substantial gains but could not hold the momentum as heavy selling was seen in banking and IT scrips.
The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 17,983.42 points and notched a high of 18,137.28 before closing at 17,825.99 points. It went up by 19.80 points at the day’s close or 0.11 percent.
The broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), which opened at 5,271.40 points, closed at 5,270.05 after touching the day’s high of 5,368.15 points.
At close, it notched a marginal fall of 1.65 points or 0.03 percent.
The BSE Midcap index, which closed at 7,723.56 points, went up by 32.70 points or 0.43 percent.
Similarly, the BSE Smallcap index, which closed at 9,673.86 points, went up 25.37 points or 0.26 percent.
On BSE, the market breadth was positive with modest trading volumes. A total of 1,437 shares advanced, 1,292 declined and 76 remained unchanged.
Cues from global markets were modest. All Asian market indices like those at Taiwan, Japan and south Koria were in the green. The US Nasdaq and Dow Jones also closed in the green.
The top gainers of the day at BSE included Mahindra and Mahindra at Rs.658.65, up 4.52 percent, HDFC Bank at Rs.2,684.40, up 4.27 percent, Ranbaxy Labs at Rs.436.35, up 4.10 percent and Bharat Heavy Electricals at Rs.2,262.90, up 3.78 percent.
The top losers were Grasim at Rs.2,888.65, down 5.06 percent, Reliance Energy at Rs.1,631.35, down 3.88 percent, Satyam at Rs.437.10, down 2.81 percent and Infosys at Rs.1,617.40, down 2.69 percent.