Sensex gains more than 105 points, healthcare stocks rise

Mumbai: A day ahead of the derivatives expiry and the ongoing parleys to resolve the Greek debt crisis, a benchmark index of the Indian equities market gained over 105 points during the mid-afternoon trade session on Wednesday.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was trading more than 105 points or 0.35 percent up during the session under review.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) made marginal gains during the mid-afternoon trade session. It rose by 28.60 points or 0.34 percent at 8,410.15 points.

The Sensex of the S&P BSE, which opened at 27,852.32 points, was trading at 27,909.75 points (at 1.30 p.m.), up 105.38 points or 0.38 percent from the previous day's close at 27,804.37 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 27,932.99 points and a low of 27,784.44 points in the intra-day trade so far.

According to Angel Broking, the Indian markets opened on a positive note tracking SGX Nifty and global cues.

The brokerage firm said the Indian markets rose for an eighth consecutive session on Tuesday, as good monsoon and signs of a potential breakthrough in debt talks between Greece and its international creditors helped keep investors sentiments buoyed. 

During the intra-day trade on Wednesday, healthy buying was observed in healthcare, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), capital goods, bank and information technology (IT) sectors. 

However, stocks of automobile, metal and oil and gas came under heavy selling pressure.

The S&P BSE healthcare index augmented by 212.49 points, FMCG index rose by 87.05 points, capital goods index gained by 77.10 points, bank index was higher by 75.92 and IT index was up by 31.84 points.

However, the S&P BSE automobile index receded by 49.86 points, metal index was lower by 46.85 points and oil nad gas index slipped by 4.98 points.