Mumbai, July 19 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed 87 points higher Thursday on firm global cues and good buying in IT, consumer durables, and oil and gas.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,288.34 points, closed 17,272.61 points, up 0.51 percent or 87.60 points from its previous day's close at 17,185.01 points.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was ruling 0.47 percent higher at 5,241.05 points.
The BSE IT index was up 84.95 points and so were consumer durable and oil and gas indices at 82.88 points and 96.27 points, respectively.
The major Sensex gainers were Infosys, up 2.81 percent at Rs.2,237; Sterlite Inds, up 2.47 percent at Rs.105.90; BHEL, up 2.29 percent at Rs.234.90; Tata Power, up 2.13 percent at Rs.100.50; and Bajaj Auto, up 1.82 percent at Rs.1,550.
The losers were Maruti Suzuki, down 8.93 percent at Rs.1,115; Bharti Airtel, down 2.57 percent at Rs.316.25; SBI, down 1.32 percent at Rs.2,157; Hero MotoCorp, down 0.78 percent at Rs.2,100; and Dr Reddy's Lab, down 0.71 percent at Rs.1,660.05.
