By IANS,
Mumbai : The Indian equities markets that opened in the red Wednesday witnessed choppy trade but managed a recovery in the second half to close with a marginal gain. Oil and gas and metal stocks led the recovery on a day when global oil futures went above the $130 per barrel mark for the first time.
However, important sectoral indices like banking, IT and power ended the day in the red.
The 30-share benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, opened at 17,065.61 points and touched a high of 17,293.34 before closing at 17,243.16. It went up by 12.98 points at the day’s close or 0.08 percent, compared to its closing figure Tuesday.
The S&P Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange, which opened at 5,105.70 points, closed at 5,117.65 points. It went up by 12.70 points or 0.25 percent from its previous close.
The BSE Midcap index, which closed at 7,148.05 points, went up by 41.99 points or 0.59 percent.
The BSE Smallcap index, which closed at 8,788.98 points, went up by 130.37 points or 1.51 percent.
On BSE, the market breadth was positive. A total of 1,710 shares advanced, 1,009 declined and 76 remained unchanged.
The top gainers of the day included Tata steel at Rs.922.25, up 3.09 percent; Mahindra and Mahindra at Rs.670, up 2.66 percent; Reliance Industries at Rs.2,667.90, up 2.53 percent; and ITC at Rs.223.80, up 2.52 percent.
The top losers included HDFC at Rs.2,688.20 down 3.46 percent; HUL at Rs.236.10 down 2.34 percent; and NTPC at Rs.182 down 2.15 percent.