Mumbai, Sep 17 (IANS): In a volatile session, a benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed Wednesday's trade 138 points or 0.52 percent up on back of expectation that the US Fed will retain its stimulus package.
The markets made gains after consecutive days of decline. The index had lost around 324 points Tuesday and fell by more than 250 points Monday.
Healthy buying was observed in automobile, information technology (IT), capital goods, technology, entertainment and media (TECK) and healthcare sectors, while selling pressure was seen in consumer durables and banking stocks.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 26,627.21 points, closed trade at 26,631.29 points, up 138.78 points or 0.52 percent from the previous day's close at 26,492.51 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 26,682.64 points and a low of 26,511.71 points in the intra-trade.
The S&P BSE automobile index surged by 178.74 points, IT index was up 155.57 points, capital goods index gained 119.43 points, TECK index rose by 72.39 points, and healthcare index moved up by 38.08 points.
However, consumer durables index dropped by 99.72 points and bank index slipped by 7.73 points.
The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed trade at 42.60 points or 0.54 percent up at 7,975.50 points.
The major Sensex losers were: Cipla, down 1.60 percent at Rs.609.75; Coal India, down 1.26 percent at Rs.339.85; Sun Pharma, down 0.70 percent at Rs.792.30; HDFC Bank, down 0.44 percent at Rs.846.40; and Hindustan Unilever, down 0.40 percent at Rs.754.90.
The major Sensex gainers were: Dr Reddy's Lab, up 2.52 percent at Rs.3,084.85; Infosys, up 2.29 percent at Rs.3,740.40; Tata Power, up 2.21 percent at Rs.85.55; BHEL, up 2.18 percent at Rs.220.70; and Tata Steel, up 1.78 percent at Rs.498.75.
In Asian markets, China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.49 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 1.00 percent higher.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 increased by 0.03 percent, Germany's DAX Index was up 0.37 percent, and France's CAC 40 was higher by 0.68 percent.