The key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, bounced back sharply on Monday after four days of decline, led by growth in financial and energy shares. The S&P BSE Sensex, which declined to a low of 59,754 in opening deals, soon rebounded and marched higher for most of the trading session.
During closing, the BSE benchmark hit a high of 60,834, up 1,080 points from the day’s low. Despite paring some gains towards the fag end of the day, the Sensex closed 721 points higher at 60,566. The Sensex had declined 1,961 points in the past four trading sessions. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty 50 rallied 310 points in intra-day trades, and eventually settled with a gain of 208 points 18,014.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, IndusInd Bank and SBI were the top gainers, up 4 per cent each. Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, ITC, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Ultra Tech Cement, NTPC and Tata Motors were the other major gainers, up 2 – 3 per cent each. On the flip side, Nestle India slipped over a per cent. The other losers were Kotak Bank, Sun Pharma, HUL, and Titan.
Among individual shares, NDTV rallied 5 per cent in intra-day trades after founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy said that they would sell 27.26 per cent out of their 32.26 per cent shareholding in the news broadcaster to Adani Group.
The 30-share Sensex pack stood positive on Monday with 25 scrips advanced and five declined. The overall breadth too was extremely positive, with 2,877 shares advancing versus 760 declining stocks on the BSE.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap surged 2.3 per cent, while the Smallcap index vaulted 3.1 per cent.
Sectorwise, the Bank Nifty was up 2 per cent. The BSE Power index soared over 3 per cent. The Metal, Realty and Commodities indices also finished more than 2 per cent higher each.
In the previous session on Friday, the S&P BSE Sensex tanked 981 points (1.6 per cent) to end at 59,845, which is its lowest level since October 28. On the other hand, the Nifty50 closed at 17,807, down 321 points (1.8 per cent). The index sunk to a low of 17,779 during the day.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 3.63 per cent to $83.92 per barrel.
Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 17 paise to close at 82.65 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, tracking positive domestic equities and the weakening of the American currency in the overseas market. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.79 and touched an intra-day high of 82.63 and a low of 82.83 against the greenback. It finally settled at 82.65, registering a rise of 17 paise over its previous close of 82.82.
