Mumbai, May 15 (IANS) After falling in five consecutive sessions, a benchmark index for Indian equities market returned to the positive terrain Tuesday, closing over 112 points up as the rupee stabilised and buying picked up in capital goods, metal and IT stocks.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,146.90 points, closed at 16,328.25 points -- up 0.69 percent or 112.41 points from its previous close of 16,215.84 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 16,370.12 points and a low of 16,123.04 in intra-day trade. The midcap index of the BSE rose 36.82 points, while smallcap index rose 20.70 points.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange closed 0.71 percent higher at 4,942.80 points.
The rupee gained after hitting an intra-day low of 54.15 after public sector banks sold dollars. It appreciated by 23 paise to 53.73 a dollar as against previous close of 53.97 a dollar.
The capital goods index was up 3.07 percent followed by metal index, up 2.21 percent, and IT index up 1.56 percent.
Major Sensex gainers included Larsen and Toubro, up 5.41 percent at Rs.1222.50; Sun Pharma, up 3.20 at Rs.595.30; Sterlite Inds, up 3.16 percent at Rs.97.80; Infosys, up 3.13 percent at Rs.2411.20; and Hero MotoCorp, up 2.65 percent at Rs.1892.75.
Major Sensex losers included: NTPC, down 2.94 percent at Rs.143.50; Maruti Suzuki, down 2.57 percent at Rs.1214.80; ITC, down 1.35 percent at Rs.230.70; Bharti Airtel, down 1.28 percent at Rs.303.50; and Gail India, 1.27 percent at Rs.314.60.
