Mumbai: Indian equities markets drew to a tame close on Wednesday in spite of investors buying stocks to cover their positions before futures and options contract expire Thursday.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange, which opened at 8,913.44 points, closed at 8,902.56 points, up 80.5 points or only 0.91 per cent.
The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended at 2,762.5 points, 1.05 per cent up from its last close at 2,733.9 points.
Both Sensex and the Nifty rose early in the day on positive global cues but were unable to hold on to their respective highs.
The BSE midcap index was 0.53 per cent higher, while the BSE smallcap index was up 0.6 per cent.
Among the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, the index for auto stocks gained the most after commercial vehicle manufacturers said they would look at passing on the benefits of excise duty cuts to customers. The government announced the cuts Tuesday.
Top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra and Mahindra (up 7.9 per cent at Rs.318.40), Tata Motors (up 5.87 per cent at Rs.139.85), Reliance Infra (up 3.6 percent at Rs.506.75) and Maruti Suzuki (up 3.2 per cent at Rs.662.75).
Among the losers were Ranbaxy Laboratories (down 3.54 per cent at Rs.207.25), HDFC (down 2.68 per cent at Rs.1,254.40), L&T (down 2.08 per cent at Rs.612.45) and DLF (down 1.75 per cent at Rs.154.60).
The overall market sentiment was mixed with 1,228 stocks advancing, 1,188 scrips declining and 107 remaining unchanged.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers, pulling out $97.10 million from the markets.
Asian markets also fared well, with a key Japanese index, the Nikkei of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, gaining 1.13 per cent to close at 7,350.34 points.
The Hang Seng, a key index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, also gained 0.73 per cent from its last close.
The FTSE index in Britain was ruling 0.89 per cent lower than its previous close.
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