Sensex closes flat; bank stocks gain (Roundup)

Mumbai, May 8 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed Thursday's trade flat, even as bank, consumer durables and automobile stocks gained.

However, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), healthcare and oil and gas stocks sustained losses.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 22,382.14 points, closed at 22,344.04 points, up 20.14 points or 0.09 percent from the previous day's close at 22,323.90 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 22,443.13 points and a low of 22,277.04 points intra-day.

The S&P BSE bank index gained 110.10 points, consumer durables index closed higher by 88.87 points and the automobile index was up 76.35 points.

However, the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) index closed lower by 54.58 points, while the healthcare index lost 33.99 points and the oil and gas index was down by 20.17 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also ended trade flat. It gained 7.30 points or 0.11 percent at 6,659.85 points.

The major Sensex gainers were: BHEL, up 3.22 percent at Rs.184.25; Cipla, up 1.65 percent at Rs.389.15; Tata Motors, up 1.36 percent at Rs.422.15, ICICI Bank, down 1.33 percent at Rs.1,289.40; and Wipro, up 1.04 percent at Rs.510.75.

The main losers were: Hero MotoCorp, down 1.36 percent at Rs.2,134.80; ITC, down 1.34 percent at Rs.341.90; Sun Pharma, down 1.07 percent at Rs.624.70; Bharti Airtel, down 0.98 percent at Rs.307.90, and Tata Power, down 0.78 percent at Rs.76.30.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.93 percent up while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was higher by 0.42 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.26 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.47 percent up and the French CAC 40 Index gained 0.40 percent, while Germany's DAX Index rose by 0.15 percent.