Markets consolidate

After a decent day of trading, the Sensex has closed at 20,117, up 72 points while the NIfty shut shop at 60,35, gaining 17 points.

Earlier in the day, the Nifty had touched the 32 high of  at 6,074.

In the broader markets, the midcap index closed at 8,159, up 0.3% while the smallcap index closed gaining 0.1% at 10,307. The benchmark index shup shop at 0.4%, outperforming the broader markets.

On the international front, the Asian markets ended in the green.Hang Seng closed 1% high at 22,340 and the Nikkei added 1.4% to close at 9,603.

After opening in the positive, the European equities edged higher, extending the previous session's sharp gains, with food and beverages shares gaining.

Among the sectoral indices, Metal stocks rose as metal prices climbed on the London Metal Index. The metal index closed up 2% followed by Consumer Durables, Realty and Oil & Gas.

However, FMCG and IT closed inthe red, down 0.4% and 0.3% respectively.

BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices were up in

green. Mid-cap index gained 30 points to 8,145. JM Financial soared 17% to Rs 43. Man Infrastrcuture, Puravankara Projects, MVL and ARSS Infra Projects were the other gainers.

Small-cap index was up 20 points at 10,287. Small-cap gainers included Force Motors, Adserv Software and IFB Industries.

Metal stocks shone on the index today. Hindalco gained 3.3% at Rs 197. Sterlite added 3% to Rs 178. Tata Steel jumped 2.5% to Rs 645.

NTPC added 2.5% to Rs 215. ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Cipla and Tata Motors were also up over 1% each.

However, HDFC Bank shed 2% at Rs 2,439. Hindustan Unilever dropped 2% to Rs 309.

HDFC, along with IT stocks- Infosys, TCS and Wipro slipped in trades.

Market breadth was marginally positive. Out of 3,086 stocks traded, 1,548 advanced while 1,438 declined.