Sensex ends above 20000; banks, realty, FMCG up

Equities bounced back sharply in the afternoon and closed above psychological levels as funds took positions even as European markets were in the red.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex closed at 20045.18, up 184.17 points or 0.93 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 20071.75 and low of 19833.52.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty closed at 6010.70, up 51.15 points or 0.86 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 6029.10 and low of 5951.20.

BSE Midcap Index ended 1.04 per cent higher and BSE Smallcap Index moved 1.05 per cent up.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Realty Index advanced 2.78 per cent, BSE FMCG Index moved 1.79 per cent higher and BSE Bankex moved 0.98 per cent higher.

Hindustan Uniliever (3.22%), Bharti Airtel (2.94%) Reliance Communications (1.76%), ONGC (1.24%) and Maruti (1.11%) were the top Sensex gainers.

Jindal Steel (-1.45%), Sterlite Industries (-0.72%), Jaiprakash Associates (-0.70%), NTPC (-0.53%) and Tata Motors (-0.42%) were the top losers.

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1899 gainers against 727 losers.