Mumbai, Jul 4: Indian shares gained for the second straight day with the Sensex ending 37 points higher at 17.462.81, its highest closing in nearly 11 weeks, on buying in metal, realty and auto shares on the back of fresh capital inflows amid a weak trend in global markets.
After gaining 27 points yesterday, the BSE benchmark index resumed higher at 17,473.26 and hovered in a 150-point range.
It closed at 17,462.81, showing a net gain of 37.10 points or 0.21 per cent. This is the highest closing after the index settled at 17,503.71 on April 19.
The 20 gainers in the 30-share index were led by Sterlite, Jindal Steel, Maruti, Bharti Airtel and SBI.
However, ONGC, Dr Reddy, Wipro and HUL were among the 10 scrips that shed value.
Similarly, the 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty added 14.60 points, or 0.28 per cent to 5,302.55.
Brokers said fears that a deficient monsoon might hurt the agri-based economy and add to existing inflation worries capped gains in the stock market.
While there was buying in selective blue-chips after rupee strengthened to to 54.18 earlier—its strongest since May 17 -- the currency erased the early gains and was last trading at the 54.5 levels a US dollar against yesterday's 54.38 closing.
A mixed trend in Asian region and lower opening in the European indices also kept the pressure on Indian stocks. “Metal and realty stocks attracted buying.
The July month is expected to be volatile. The outcome of ECB policy meeting tomorrow is likely to influence trend in the short-term,” said Shanu Goel, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.
Benchmark indices in Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore rose by between 0.06 per cent to 0.89 per cent while Hong Kong's HangSeng index closed down.
In Europe, France's CAC, Germany's DAX and the UK's FTSE were trading down in early trade.
