Mumbai, March 25 (IANS): A benchmark index of the Indian equities markets Tuesday touched another record high of 22,079.96 points but closed flat at the end.

Tuesday's new high surpassed the previous record of 22,074.34 points hit Monday.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex (sensitive index) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 21,948.31 points, closed at 22,055.21 points, down 0.27 points from the previous day's close at 22,055.48 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 22,079.96 points and a low of 21,916.87 points during the trade.

The 50-scrip Nifty too touched a record 6,595.55 points, before closing at 6,589.75 points, up 6.25 points or 0.09 percent.

Healthy buying was observed in capital goods, consumer durables, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and automobile stocks.

However, oil and gas, information technology (IT), technology, entertainment and media (TECk) and healthcare sectors scrip came under selling pressure.

Sustained FII (Foreign Institutional Investor) flows, and expectation that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will keep the key interest rates intact in its next monetary policy review April 1 led the markets to the new record high.

Sector-wise, the S&P BSE capital goods index went was up 193.12 points, consumer durables index gained 81.88 points, FMCG index increased by 48.38 points, bank index rose 40.22 points and automobile index edged higher by 32.15 points.

But the S&P BSE oil and gas index fell 135.53 points, while the IT index slid 68.12 points. The TECk index declined 27.32 points and healthcare index fell 5.98 points.

The major Sensex gainers were: BHEL, up 4.41 percent at Rs.196.50; Hero MotoCorp, up 3.06 percent at Rs.2,187.60; Hindustan Unilever, up 1.73 percent at Rs.592; Larsen and Toubro (L&T), up 1.47 percent at Rs.1,248.40; and Tata Power, up 1.24 percent at Rs.81.35.

Shares of Reliance Industries fell nearly three percent after the Election Commission asked the government to postpone implementing its decision to raise gas prices till a new government is formed after the general elections.

The company's share at the BSE fell as much as 3.8 percent to Rs.872.50 from its previous day's close of Rs.904.60. The scrip later closed at Rs.878.65, down 25.95 points or 2.87 percent in afternoon trade.

Other losers were: Wipro, down 2.58 percent at Rs.548.50; Sesa Sterlite, down 1.55 percent at Rs.175.05; Mahindra and Mahindra, down 1.17 percent at Rs.975; DrReddys Lab, down 1.01 percent at Rs.2,721.35 and Axis Bank, down 0.72 percent at Rs.1,400.80.

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