Mumbai, Jan 5 (IANS): A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Monday closed trading 45.58 points or 0.16 percent down as IT stocks dropped.

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

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 27,978.43 points, closed at 27,842.32 points, down 45.58 points or 0.16 percent from the previous day's close at 27,887.90 points.

The Sensex has touched a high of 28,064.49 points and a low of 27,786.85 points in the trade.

The S&P BSE auto index went up by 213.82 points, capital goods index moved up by 115.21 points and consumer durables index inched up by 108.40 points. However, IT index dropped by 108.73 points, bankex fell by 54.98 points and metal index dropped by 49.03 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed trading 17.05 points or 0.20 percent down at 8,378.40 points.

The major Sensex gainers were: Maruti, up 2.62 percent at Rs.3447.60; Tata Motors, up 2.42 percent at Rs.524.10; Tata Steel, up 1.42 percent at Rs.416.65 and L&T, up 1.42 percent at Rs.1556.50.

The losers were: Dr.Reddy's, down 2.19 percent at Rs.3146.80; Bharti Airtel, down 2.10 percent at Rs.357.20; Hindalco, down 1.87 percent at Rs.157.10 and HDFC, down 1.29 percent at Rs.1156.65.Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei went down by 0.24 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was 0.57 percent down, while China's Shanghai Composite Index, moved up by 3.61 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was down by 0.81 percent, Germany's DAX Index fell by 0.56 percent and France's CAC 40 slipped by 0.96 percent.

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