Sensex gains 130 points; oil and gas, IT stocks save the day

Mumbai: Continuing their rising streak for a second day, the BSE Sensex advanced by 130 points and the NSE Nifty added nearly 45 points on Tuesday, led by gains in oil and gas, IT and financial stocks.

After a highly volatile session, the 30-share index settled 129.98 points, or 0.33 per cent, higher at 39,816.48. The index hit an intra-day high of 39,838.49 and a low of 39,499.19.

The broader NSE Nifty too rose 44.70 points, or 0.38 per cent, to finish at 11,910.30. During the day, the index touched a high of 11,917.45 and a low of 11,814.70.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included ONGC, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Maruti, HCL Tech, Mahindra and Mahindra, HUL, TechM and SBI -- rising up to 2.89 per cent.

Yes Bank, on the other hand, was the biggest loser on the index, falling 7.60 per cent, after reports that a borrower defaulted on scheduled interest payments on a Rs 1,200-crore loan to the private lender.

Other losers included Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank and Hero MotoCorp -- shedding up to 2.47 per cent.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee depreciated by 6 paise to 69.01 against the US dollar intra-day.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.22 per cent to USD 64.92 per barrel.

Globally, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a mixed note, while equity markets in Europe were rangebound in their respective early sessions