Indian stocks close lower

Indian stocks closed lower Thursday with the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index, Sensex, closing at 21,774.61 points, 81.61 points or 0.37 percent down from the previous close of 21,856.22 points. The sluggish performance of the stock market continued despite news of recovery of industrial output, as the country's industrial production expanded by 0.1 percent in January after three months of declining. The Sensex touched a high of 21,991.36 points and a low of 21, 720.13 points during the trade. Indian stocks are expected to remain volatile over political uncertainty prior to the general elections to start next month.