Indian equities end higher on first day of new fiscal

Mumbai: Indian equities markets, backed by strong cues from other Asian markets, closed on a firm note on the first day of the new fiscal year Thursday with a key index up nearly 165 points when the session came to a close.

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened the day higher at 17,555.04 points against the previous close at 17,527.77 points, and kept the momentum going through the day to a high of 17,706.56 points. The stock chart for 52-weeks is given on left.

At closing bell, the key index was ruling at 17,692.62 points, with a gain of 164.85 points, or 0.94 percent, data available with the exchange showed.

Twenty-one of the 30 Sensex scrips ended the day in the positive territory, while nine closed lower. This apart, 11 out of the 13 sector-specific indices of the BSE ended in the green, led by those for information technology, consumer durables and metals.

The indices for automobile stocks and fast-moving consumer goods ended in the red.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader S&P CNX Nifty, a basket of 50 shares, closed at 5,291.10 points, with a gain of 42 points, or 0.80 percent, over the previous close.

Tata Consultancy Services led the Sensex gainers, up 3.45 percent at Rs.807.75; followed by Tata Steel, up 3.10 percent at Rs.652.25; Jaiprakash, up 2.67 percent at Rs.153.65; Tata Motors, up 2.65 percent at Rs.775.90; and HDFC, up 2.57 percent at Rs.2,782.45.

Among the scrips that ended lower, Hindustan Unilever lost the most ground, down 3.35 percent at Rs.230.70. Bharti Airtel was next, down 3.13 percent at Rs.302.15; Mahindra and Mahindra, down 2.09 percent at Rs.533.80; Maruti Suzuki, down 1.80 percent at Rs.1,390.70 and Tata Power, down 1.26 percent at Rs.1.355.25.