The BSE Sensex closed at 60,130, up 74 points. (file)
Mumbai:
Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed higher for the second straight session on Tuesday, helped by buying in power and utility stocks amid positive quarterly numbers announced by heavyweight companies.
Traders, however, said foreign fund outflows and a sluggish trend in global equities limited gains.
In highly volatile trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 74.61 points, or 0.12 per cent, higher at 60,130.71. It touched a high of 60,268.67 and a low of 60,202.77 in the day’s trade.
The broader NSE Nifty settled 25.85 points, or 0.15 per cent, higher at 17,769.25.
Bajaj Finance led the Sensex gainers’ chart, jumping up to 2.38 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv up 2.11 per cent and IndusInd Bank up 1.66 per cent. Bharti Airtel, SBI and L&T gained 1.60 per cent, 1.28 per cent and 0.92 per cent, respectively.
In contrast, HDFC twins, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, Wipro and Axis Bank were among the main laggards, falling up to 1.47 per cent.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap gauge remained unchanged and the Smallcap index rose 0.19 per cent.
Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Shanghai, Seoul and Hong Kong posted losses, while Tokyo gained.
Equity exchanges in Europe were trading in the red in mid-session deals. In the US, the markets closed with a mixed trend on Monday.
International oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.29 per cent to $82.49 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 412.27 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.