By IANS,
Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities Monday ended trade with a 103-point gain at 17,937 points, after breaching the psychologically important 18,000-mark.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,875.97 points, closed at 17,937.2 points, 103.66 points or 0.58 percent up from its previous close at 17,833.54 points.
It had risen to 18,010.07 points during morning trade on expectation of good quarterly earnings by companies, but slipped after the government announced industrial production grew at a slower pace of 11.5 percent in May, compared to 16.5 percent in the previous month.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty ended at 5,383 points, up 0.57 percent from its previous close at 5,352.45 points.
Broader markets indices too were quiet, with the BSE midcap index ending 0.26 percent up and the BSE smallcap index 0.6 percent higher.
Realty, banking, IT and capital goods saw buying, but consumer durables, energy and healthcare scrips were under selling pressure.
The market breadth was positive thanks to buying interest in broader markets, with 1,567 scrips advancing, compared to 1,320 stocks declining, and 126 remaining unchanged.
Among the gainers on the Sensex were DLF, up 2.38 percent at Rs.302.75; Tata Motors, 2.32 percent at Rs.788.45; Wipro, up 2.25 percent at Rs.409.45; and TCS, up 2.19 percent at Rs.791.45.
Prominent losers included Reliance Infra, down 1.91 percent at Rs.1,150.25; Hero Honda, down 1.55 percent at Rs.1,978.80; Reliance Communications, down 1.37 percent at Rs.190.60; and ONGC, down 1.36 percent at Rs.1,276.60.
Other major Asian markets were also on the rise, helped by news of China’s robust export growth and Friday’s gains in the US markets.
The Japanese Nikkei closed 0.39 percent lower at 9,548.11 points on profit booking after the ruling party lost the upper house election.
However, the South Korean Kospi ended 0.64 percent higher at 1,734.05 points.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng too closed with modest gains at 20,467.43 points, up 0.44 percent, while the Chinese Shanghai Composite index ended 0.8 percent higher at 2,490.72 points.
European markets too were quiet after a four-day winning run.
In Britain, the benchmark index FTSE 100 was helped by gains in oil major BP, which helped offset losses in mining company scrips. The FTSE 100 was ruling 0.18 percent up at 5,141.94 points.
The French CAC 40 was trading 0.1 percent higher at 3,558.08 points, while its German peer the DAX was up 0.22 percent at 6,078.64 points.