Sensex down by 6.81 pts, closes at 19,051

Mumbai, Oct 16: The Sensex was down by 6.81 points on selling pressure by local operators today to settle at 19,051.86 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The BSE 30-share Sensex opened on a positive note and soon rose to hit its all-time high of 19,174.45. At day's high of 19,174.45, Sensex had risen 115.78 points for the day. It hit a low of 18,777.75 during mid-afternoon trade. At day"s low of 18,777.75, the Sensex had lost 280.92 points.

The broader based S&P CNX Nifty index of NSE was down 2.35 points, or 0.04 per cent (PC), to settle at 5,668.06. It hit all-time high of 5,708.35 in early trade.

The Sensex recovered over 250 points from the day's low and subsequently ended flat.

Power stocks were the star performers of the day. Tata Power was up over 20 per cent, followed by Power Grid, Neyville Lignite, Reliance Energy and NTPC.

Selling pressure was seen in IT, auto and oil&gas stocks. Cues from the global markets were not very encouraging today.

IDBI post its Q2 numbers was down 2.5 per cent, its standalone NIIT at Rs 144.7 crore as against Rs 134.9 crore. Most of the BSE key indices ended in red except bankex, consumer durable and realty index.

Top gainers on the indices were ICICI Bank, Reliance Energy and Siemens. Top losers on the indices were Infosys, HUL, M&M, Sun Pharma, Zee Ent and Nalco.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap outperformed the Sensex. BSE Midcap was up nearly 1 per cent per cent and Smallcap was up 0.5 per cent.

About 1350 shares have advanced, 1627 shares declined, and 70 shares are unchanged.

The BSE Bankex was up by 3 per cent at 9,974.13. SBI, IOB, ICICI Bank, Andhra Bank, Karnataka Bank, Kotak Mahindra, SBI, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, Bank of India moved upwards.

The BSE Auto Index closed at 5,598.78 down 0.3 per cent. Hind Motors, Ashok Leyland, Exide Industrie, Bajaj Auto closed lower.

The BSE Metal Index closed flat at 16,156.67. Sterlite Ind, JindalStainless, SAIL, JSW Steel closed lower.

The BSE FMCG Index closed at 2,135.93 down 1 per cent. HUL, Dabur India, United Brewerie, ITC, Nestle closed lower.

BSE Oil and Gas Index closed at 10,994.52 down by 0.5 per cent.

Essar Oil, BPCL, ONGC, HPCL ended in red.

The BSE IT Index was down 1.8 pc at 4,629.09. Patni Computer, I-Flex Solution, Infosys, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra closed higher.

The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 23289.02 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 90751.74 crore. The BSE cash turnover was Rs 9766.82 crore. Total market wide turnover was at Rs 123807.58 crore.

Asian markets were mostly in the red today as Japan's Nikkei was down by 1.27 pc at 17,137.90,followed by Singapore's Straits Times by 1.33 pc at 3,810.72, Hong Kong's Hang Seng by 1.98 pc at 29,954.55 and South Korea's Seoul Composite by 1.46 pc at 2,005.76.

US market ended lower yesterday as oil kissed USD 86 mark and Citigroup issued fourth quarter earning warning. The Dow Jones industrial Average closed lower by 108.28 points at 13,984.80.

The Nasdaq Composite Index, finished lower by 25.63 points at 2,780.05. S&P 500 finished lower by 13.09 points at 1,548.71, brokers added.

Hindalco Industries rose by 6.04 pc to Rs 200.25 and was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. It hit a 52 week-high of Rs 201.40 today. Banking stocks gained with ICICI Bank up by 5.95 per cent to Rs 1,162. It hit an all-time high of Rs 1,179.90 today. HDFC Bank gained 1.04 per cent to Rs 1,506. However, State Bank of India declined 1.94 per cent to Rs 1,919.

Power stocks surged. NTPC increased by 2.29 per cent to Rs 232.

It hit an all-time high of Rs 234.90. Power Grid Corporation India was up by 11.18 per cent to Rs 128.25, Tata Power Company was up by 22.24 per cent to Rs 1,357.

Reliance Energy gained by 2.42 per cent to Rs 1,892.10. It hit an all-time high of Rs 1,959. Maruti Suzuki India rose by 2.38 per cent to Rs 1,188. Reliance Communications increased by 0.53 per cent to Rs 756.70. It hit an all time high of Rs 778.50.

Shree Dinesh Mills was up 20 per cent to Rs 1,798.65, followed by Parry Agro Industries by 20 per cent to Rs 1,594.05, GSB Finance by 20 per cent to Rs 12.72 and Ambika Cotton by 20 per cent to Rs 184.20.

India"s largest private company in terms of market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) declined by 1.09 per cent to Rs 2,635. The stock came off session's high of Rs 2,699. It hit a low of Rs 2,617.10 Bharti Airtel crashed by 1.49 per cent to Rs 1,110. It recovered from day's low of Rs 1,090.25.

Infosys was down 3.31 per cent to Rs 1,865 and was the top loser from the Sensex pack. The stock came off session's low of Rs 1,843.10.

Hindustan Unilver was down by 2.81 per cent to Rs 213.05,followed by ACC by 1.94 per cent to Rs 1,261, ONGC by 1.93 per cent to Rs 1,168.

Peninsula Land was down by 79.37 per cent to Rs 126,followed by Sky Industries by 9.75 per cent to Rs 104.10 and Toyo Rolls by 15.04 per cent to Rs 270.

UNI