Mumbai, Nov 20 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Thursday closed trading flat at 34.71 points or 0.12 percent up as healthcare stocks gained.

Good buying was observed in healthcare and IT sectors, while selling pressure was seen in consumer durables, capital goods, metal and auto sectors.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 28,100.84 points, closed trading at 28,067.56 points — up 34.71 points or 0.12 percent — from the previous day’s close at 28,032.85 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 28,118.53 points and a low of 27,915.23 points in the intra-trade.

The S&P healthcare index surged by 145.71 points and IT index gained 137.65 points.

However, consumer durables index slipped by 167.49 points, capital goods index dropped by 116.10 points, metal index went down by 93.85 points and auto index fell by 84.35 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also traded flat at 19.60 points or 0.23 percent up at 8,401.90 points.

The major Sensex gainers were: Cipla, up 3.23 percent at Rs.618.60; State Bank of India, up 2.05 percent at Rs.297.10; Wipro, up 1.25 percent at Rs.572.30; and TCS, up 1.08 percent at Rs.2,605.45.

The major Sensex losers were: Sesa Sterlite Limited, down 2.33 percent at Rs.234.65; BHEL, down 1.49 percent at Rs.245.40; NTPC, down 1.32 percent at Rs.142.20; and Mahindra & Mahindra, down 1.18 percent at Rs.1,231.85.

Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei index was up 0.07 percent, Shanghai’s Composite Index up by 0.07 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped by 0.10 percent.

In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.63 percent, France’s CAC 40 slipped by 1.19 percent and Germany’s DAX Index dropped by 0.75 percent.