Mumbai, Feb 26 (IANS): A benchmark index of the Indian equities market Wednesday closed 134 points higher on buying in automobile and capital goods stocks.

The 30-scrip sensitive (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,869.61 points, closed at 20,986.99 points, up 134.52 points or 0.65 percent, from the previous day's close of 20,852.47 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 21,005.04 points and a low of 20,860.02 points in the day's trade.

The wider 50-scrip NIFTY of the national stock exchange (NSE) closed the day's trade up 38.75 points or 0.62 percent at 6,238.80 points.

The S&P BSE automobile index was up 105.76 points, followed by capital goods index, up 95.12 points, while healthcare index closed the day's trade higher by 86.20 points, bank index was up 68.15 points and fast moving consumer durables (FMCG) index went up 63.84 points.

However, the metal index was down 156.96 points, followed by realty index which was lower by 6.26 points.

The prominent Sensex gainers were Gail India, up 2.97 percent at Rs.368; Dr Reddy's Lab, up 2.16 percent at Rs.2,833.95; ITC, up 2.07 percent at Rs.328.55; Mahindra and Mahindra, up 2.00 percent at Rs.962.40; and BHEL, up 1.63 percent at Rs.162.05.

The major losers included Tata Steel, down 3.23 percent at Rs.349.25; Sesa Sterlite, down 2.62 percent at Rs.175; Tata Power, down 1.85 percent at Rs.79.45; Coal India, down 1.12 percent at Rs.243.60; and Maruti Suzuki, down 0.85 percent at Rs.1,661.70.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.54 percent down, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was higher by 0.54 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.35 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.26 percent down, and Germany's DAX Index was lower by 0.14 percent. The French CAC 40 Index declined 0.27 percent.

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