By IANS,
Mumbai : A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed 180 points up Tuesday on the back of good buying in IT, realty and auto stocks.
The markets were buoyed by the assurance given by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Monday that the government will do everything to maintain the investment attractiveness of the country. There were also strong global cues after reports of a surge in US hiring.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,456.37 points, closed 17,593.79 points (provisional), 1.04 percent or 180.83 points up from its previous day’s close at 17,412.96 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 17,641.55 points and a low of 17,417.92 points. The BSE midcap index was up 22.72 points and the small cap index was 26.93 points higher.
The BSE IT index was up 101.59 points, followed by the realty index, up 29.44 points and the auto index, up 150.26 points.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange closed 1.03 percent up at 5,336.70 points.
The major Sensex gainers were Tata Motors, up 4.42 percent at Rs.238.75; Gail India, up 3.21 percent at Rs.377.40; TCS, up 2.86 percent at Rs.1,264.60; Bajaj Auto, up 2.16 percent at Rs.1,668.20; and ICICI Bank, up 2.08 percent at Rs.973.80.
Major sensex losers were Hero MotoCorp, down 1.40 percent at Rs.1,952; Bharti Airtel, down 0.79 percent at Rs.293.80, Sun Pharma, down 0.31 percent at Rs.669; RIL, down 0.20 percent at Rs.783.70 and Dr Reddys Lab, down 0.01 percent at Rs.1,657.40