Mumbai, March 3 (IANS): A benchmark index of the Indian equities market closed Monday's trade 173 points lower, as healthcare and automobile stocks fell.

The fall in the barometer index came after five consecutive sessions of gain. On Friday the Sensex made its highest weekly gain since the end of November 2013.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 21,079.27 points, closed at 20,946.65 points, down 173.47 points or 0.82 percent from the previous day's close at 21,120.12 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 21,140 points and a low of 20,920.98 points in the day's trade.

The wider 50-scrip NIFTY of the national stock exchange (NSE) closed 55.50 points or 0.88 percent up at 6,221.45 points.

The S&P BSE healthcare index was down 168.19 points, followed by the automobile index, down 149.16 points; information technology (IT) index, down 122.53 points; capital goods index, down 107.61 points; and bank index, down 103.60 points.

However, the consumer durables index was up 103.59 points, followed by the oil and gas index, which ended 20.15 points higher.

The prominent Sensex gainers were Reliance Industries, up 0.53 percent at Rs.803.50; Tata Steel, up 0.39 percent at Rs.345.40; Hindalco Inds, up 0.38 percent at Rs.105.50; ITC, up 0.35 percent at Rs.328.65; and Coal India, up 0.14 percent at Rs.244.35.

The major losers included DrReddys Lab, down 2.97 percent at Rs.2,815.30; BHEL, down 2.81 percent at Rs.162.50; Sun Pharma, down 2.75 percent at Rs.625.05; Mahindra and Mahindra, down 2.22 percent at Rs.951.85; and Cipla, down 1.99 percent at Rs.376.70.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 1.27 percent down, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was lower by 1.47 percent. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.92 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 1.70 percent down. Germany's DAX Index was also lower by 2.72 percent, and the French CAC 40 Index declined 2.37 percent.

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