Sensex, Nifty bounce back on fag-end buying in RIL, Infosys

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty bounced back from intra-day lows to settle in positive territory on Monday

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty bounced back from intra-day lows to settle in positive territory on Monday, helped by fag-end buying in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys and ICICI Bank amid a firm start in European markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 79.27 points or 0.12 per cent to settle at 65,401.92. During the day, it fell 500.77 points or 0.76 per cent to 64,821.88.

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The NSE Nifty gained 6.25 points or 0.03 per cent to end at 19,434.55.

“Markets continued to witness wild fluctuations due to weak Asian cues, but early optimism in European indices aided the recovery in local markets with the help of buoyancy in IT stocks. However, deflation and demand slowdown in China, coupled with concerns over more rate hikes in developed economies going ahead, have been taking the sheen out of equity markets.

“Investors are also wary of steady selling by foreign investors in local markets this month, which is causing traders to limit their exposure,” Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said.

From the Sensex pack, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints, Nestle, Axis Bank, Wipro and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major gainers.

JSW Steel, State Bank of India, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors and Bajaj Finance were the major laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge declined by 0.50 per cent, and the midcap index fell by 0.44 per cent.
Among the indices, metal declined by 1.81 per cent, commodities fell by 1.66 per cent, power (0.91 per cent), realty (0.65 per cent) and utilities (0.63 per cent) were among the major laggards.

FMCG, IT and teck were the gainers.

“Following weak performances in Asian markets, the domestic indices commenced the day with a negative bias, prompted by discouraging domestic industrial data, along with concerns over demand from China. However, the indices managed to recover from their initial losses, ending the day on a relatively neutral note,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the negative territory. European markets were trading mostly in the green. The US markets ended mostly lower on Friday.

The wholesale price-based inflation remained in the negative territory for the fourth straight month in July at (-) 1.36 per cent on easing fuel prices, even though food articles turned costlier.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,324.23 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.33 per cent to USD 86.52 a barrel.

Equity markets will remain closed on Tuesday on account of Independence Day.