Stock Market Ends Flat: Sensex Gains Marginally By 79 Points, Nifty At 19,435. IT Jumps, Metals Drag

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys, HUL, Reliance, L&T, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints were among the gainers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, pared their losses and closed on a positive note, on Monday. The domestic indices, which declined drastically during the morning session, rebounded during the latter part of the trading session following a buying spree among some index heavyweights.

The S&P BSE Sensex, which oscillated 696 points during the day, ended at 65,402, up 79 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 rebounded from a low of 19,258 and closed at 19,435, up 6 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys, HUL, Reliance, L&T, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints were among the gainers. On the downside, JSW Steel, SBI, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, UltraCemco, IndusInd Bank emerged losers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices declined 0.5 per cent each.

Among specific stocks, Adani Group shares fell up to 5 per cent in the intra-day trade on Monday after the board of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) accepted the resignation of Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP as the company's auditor. Shares of SpiceJet soared 13 per cent in the intra-day trade after the company registered net profit at Rs 205 crore in the June ended quarter (Q1FY24), as against net loss of Rs 789 crore, in the year-ago period.

Sectorally, the Nifty Metal index fell 2 per cent amid real estate sector related concerns in China. On the other hand, the Nifty Media, FMCG, and IT indices added up to 1 per cent.

In the previous session on Friday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed near the days’ lows of the day, down 366 points at 65,322, while the NSE Nifty settled at 19,428, down 115 points.

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

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.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,073.28 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.33 per cent to $86.52 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 29 paise to settle at an all-time low of 83.11 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, weighed down by a strong greenback overseas and firm crude oil prices in the international markets. Foreign fund outflows also weighed on the local unit, analysts said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.04 against the dollar, and it finally ended the day at 83.11 (provisional), registering a fall of 29 paise from its previous close. During the session, the local unit touched a peak of 82.94 and a low of 83.11. On Friday, the domestic unit had settled 16 paise lower at 82.82 against the dollar.