Sensex closes 85 points higher in choppy trade; Tata Steel, Sun Pharma surge

Mumbai [India], January 13 (ANI): The Indian equities markets benchmark Sensex closed 85 points higher in choppy trade on Thursday. Metal and pharma stocks surged while shares of Wipro and some private banks tumbled.
The 30 stock S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange closed at 61,235.30 points, which is 85.26 points or 0.14 per cent higher from its previous day's close at 61,150.04 points.
The Sensex witnessed choppy trade. It opened in the positive at 61,259.99 points and surged to a high of 61,348.57 points in the morning trade. The index slipped into the red several times during the day. It touched a low of 60,949.81 points in the intra-day.
The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange closed at 18,257.80 points, which is 0.25 per cent or 45.45 points higher when compared with the previous day's close at 18,212.35 points.
The Nifty 50 touched a high of 18,272.25 points and low of 18,163.80 points in the intra-day.
Wipro tumbled 6 per cent to Rs 649.85 on disappointing Q3 numbers. Wipro on Wednesday reported Rs 2,969 crore profit for the third quarter of the current financial year, which is only a tad higher from Rs 2,968 crore net profit recorded during the same quarter of last year.
The other two IT giants Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys that also reported their Q3 numbers on Wednesday gained over one per cent.
TCS closed 1.05 per cent higher at Rs 3897.65. Infosys rose 1.03 per cent to Rs 1897.
Tata Steel surged 6.40 per cent to Rs 1220.60. Sun Pharma soared 3.53 per cent to Rs 865.75.
L&T 2.30 per cent higher at Rs 2018.10; Mahindra & Mahindra 1.66 per cent higher at Rs 895.35; Power Grid Corporation 1.49 per cent higher at Rs 207.90; Bajaj Finserv 1.49 per cent higher at Rs 18,211.60 were among the major Sensex gainers.
Major Sensex losers included: Asian Paints 2.47 per cent down at Rs 3456.75; HDFC Bank 1.81 per cent down at Rs 1528.35; IndusInd Bank 1.55 per cent down at Rs 927.40; Kotak Bank 1.46 per cent down at Rs 1926.75 and HCL Technologies 1.32 per cent down at Rs 1333.25. (ANI)