Nifty closes at 2600; Bharti, Suzlon fall

12 Mar 2009, 1540 hrs IST, ET Bureau

MUMBAI: Indian benchmarks retreated in the last half an hour of trade but still ended in the green as traders booked profits at higher levels.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 2602.40, up 29.25 points or 1.14 per cent. The index touched an intra-day high of 2646.10 and low of 2574.50.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex closed at 8312.95 152.55 points or 1.87 per cent. The index hit a high of 8439.71 and low of 8274.78.

BSE Midcap Index closed up 0.36 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index edged 0.32 per cent up.

BSE Auto Index moved up 3.64 per cent, BSE Bankex gained 3.14 per cent and BSE Oil&gas Index moved 2.83 per cent higher.

The rally in the Nifty pack was led by ICICI Bank (8.67%), Sterlite Industries
(7.16%), Tata Motors (6.92%), Sun Pharmaceuticals (5.81%) and Maruti Suzuki (5.38%).

Bharti Airtel (-7.36%), Suzlon Energy (-4.74%), Zee Entertainment (-3.94%), Tata Power (-3.2%) and NTPC (-3.06%) were the index losers.

Market breadth was negative on the BSE with 1160 advances and 1265 declines.

(All figures are provisional)

VIA:E.T