Sensex, Nifty close at record high; metals sizzle (Roundup)

Mumbai, May 20 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Tuesday closed at a record high of 24,376.88 points as metal, consumer durables, information technology (IT) scrips gained.

Healthy buying was observed in metal, consumer durables, IT, healthcare and technology, entertainment and media (TECK) sectors.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 24,555.31 points, made healthy gains to touch a high of 24,587.16 points before slipping to a low of 24,299.53 points in intra-day trade.

It closed at 24,376.88 points, up 13.83 points or 0.06 percent from the previous day's close at 24,363.05 points.

The S&P BSE metal index gained 190.63 points, consumer durables index surged by 180.95 points, IT index moved up by 173.04 points, healthcare index got rose by 147.33 points and TECK index was up by 112.69 points.

However, the oil and gas index slipped by 377.47 points, while the bank index fell 133.87 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at a new record high of 7,275.50 points, up 11.95 points or 0.16 percent.

The prominent Sensex gainers included Sesa Sterlite, up 7.95 percent at Rs.245.65; BHEL, up 3.60 percent at Rs.277.90; Tata Steel, up 3.49 percent at Rs.467; Mahindra and Mahindra, up 3.34 percent at Rs.1,135.35; and Infosys, up 3.19 percent at Rs.3,119.05.

Of the 30 Sensex scrips, 13 closed in the red. Among the major Sensex losers were Coal India, down 5.89 percent at Rs.366.70; ONGC, down 3.96 percent at Rs.399.90; Reliance Industries, down 3.73 percent at Rs.1,078.50; Hero MotoCorp, down 3.07 percent at Rs.2,369.30; and Gail India, down 2.08 percent at Rs.421.45.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.49 percent up, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was higher by 0.57 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.15 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.50 percent down and the French CAC 40 Index was lower 0.11 percent. Germany's DAX Index had lost 0.28 percent at the closing bell here.