Sensex closes 43 pts up ahead of weekly inflation data

Extending its gains for the fourth day in a row, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Thursday closed higher by marginal 43 points even as investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of the weekly inflation data.

The 30-share BSE barometer settled the day higher by 43.71 points at 15,117.25.

In choppy trade, the key index moved between 15,280.06 and 14,992.97. As many as 19 Sensex stocks posted gains.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 6.30 points at 4,523.85 after touching the day's high of 4,580.15 and a low of 4,493.70 points during the day.

Consumer durable stocks were the best performing scrips today. The index of this sector ended up by 110.66 points at 3,977.97, followed by auto index which gained 47.39 points at 3,967.03.

Auto, IT, realty, bank stocks also ended in the green.

Consumer goods, power, PSU, oil and gas and teck stocks however, were the losers.

Among the Sensex stocks, Sterlite Industies was the biggest gainer at 4.43 per cent, followed by Tata Motors at 4.10 per cent. HDFC Ltd, HDFC Bank and Grasim industries also closed higher in the range of 2-3 per cent.