Home Economy Sensex closes flat amid dull global cues

Sensex closes flat amid dull global cues

By IANS,

Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities Monday closed flat, having moved up from the initial lows, amid mixed cues from other global bourses and continuing concerns on the slowing economy.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 15,840.22 points, closed at 15,814.72 points, 34.08 points or 0.22 percent down from its previous close at 15,848.8 points.

The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also ended lacklustre at 4,742.8 points, down 0.09 percent or 4.1 points from its previous close.

Broader markets also managed to make up for intra-day losses with the BSE 500 index closing flat. The BSE midcap index nudged up 0.64 percent, while the BSE smallcap rose 1.4 percent.

The market breadth was positive with 1,638 stocks advancing, compared to 1,080 on the decline. Another 104 remained unchanged.

Prominent gainers on the 30-scrip Sensex included BHEL, up 3.15 percent at Rs.258.55; Jindal Steel, up 2.88 percent at Rs.479.45; Cipla, up 2.5 percent at Rs.344.20; and Maruti Suzuki, up 1.8 percent at Rs.971.95.

Losers included Bharti Airtel, down 2.93 percent at Rs.321.20; SBI, down 1.92 percent at Rs.1,637.75; Coal India, down 1.59 percent at Rs.314.70; and Tata Motors, down 1.52 percent at Rs.200.45.

According to data available with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), foreign institutional investors bought stocks worth $4.75 million Monday.

Asian markets ended mixed as optimism from better than expected US job data was tempered by concerns that Italy and Spain also could now need bail-outs after Greece.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.47 percent to end at 18,865.72 points, while the Chinese Shanghai Composite index gained 2.89 percent to close at 2,225.89 points.

The South Korean Kospi, however, shed 0.9 percent to end at 1,826.49 points. Japanese markets were closed Monday.

European markets were quiet.

Britain’s FTSE 100 was ruling subdued at 5,640.82 points, while the German DAX was trading 0.12 percent down at 6,050.4 points.

However, the French CAC 40 was ruling 0.34 percent higher at 3,147.98 points.