Sensex closes 153.97 points up; FMCG, oil stocks surge

Mumbai, June 18 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Tuesday closed the day's trade up 153.97 points at 16,859.80 points, led by good buying support for fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and oil and gas stocks.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,681.89 points, closed up 153.97 points, or 0.92 percent at 16,859.80 points from its previous close of 16,705.83 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 16,890 points and a low of 16,681.89 points in the intra-day trade.

The BSE midcap index was up 10.12 points while the smallcap index fell 0.54 points.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was 39.60 points or 0.78 percent up at 5,103.85 points.

The BSE oil and gas sectoral index was up 166.21 points, the FMCG index was up 75.17 points and health care index was up 73.96 points.

Major Sensex gainers were Gail India, up 8.70 points at Rs.336.15; Reliance Industries, up 18.55 points at Rs.737.25; ITC, up 6.05 points at Rs.249.10; Bharti Airtel, up 5.65 points at Rs.314.75; and ONGC, up 4.40 points at Rs.267.60.

Major Sensex losers were Sterlite Inds, down 1.55 points at Rs.94.35; BHEL, down 2.85 points at Rs.211.55; Infosys, down 32.35 points at Rs.2,478.55; Tata Power, down 1.05 points at Rs.91.05 and Jindal Steel, down 1.06 points at Rs.427.80.

null