Mumbai, May 22 (IANS) The key Indian equity indices provisionally closed in the green on Tuesday, although with marginal gains on the back of value buying by investors, after declining for five sessions in a row.
According to market analysts, healthy buying activity was witnessed in auto, metal and healthcare stocks.
However, weakness in global markets and rise in crude oil prices restricted further gains on the Indian indices.
At 3.30 p.m, the broader Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) provisionally closed at 10,536.70 points -- up by 20 points or 0.19 per cent -- from its previous close of 10,516.70.
The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex), which had opened at 34,601.49 points, closed at 34,651.24 points (3.30 p.m) -- higher 35.11 points or 0.1 per cent -- from its previous session's close of 34,616.13 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 34,754.60 points and a low of 34,550.22 points during the intra-day trade. The BSE market breadth was tilted towards the bulls with 1,444 advances against 1,182 declines.
The major gainers on the BSE were Dr Reddy's Lab, State Bank of India (SBI), Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and Coal India, while Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, IndusInd Bank and Power Grid were among the major losers.
On the NSE, the top gainers were Dr Reddy's Lab, SBI and Bajaj Finserv. The major losers were Indian Oil Corp, Ultratech Cement and Bharti Infratel.
