Stock Market: Sensex, Nifty Snap Six-Day Losing Run; Bank, Financial Shares Advance

Stock update: On the BSE platform, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki, SBI, HDFC, Kotak Bank, M&M, and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers, up between 1.6 per cent and 2.9 per cent

New Delhi: Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Monday finished in the green, snapping a six-day losing streak and tracking positive global cues and on the back of gains in banking, financials, power stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 180 points to end at 52,974, while the broader NSE Nifty settled at 15,842, up 60 points. The Sensex gyrated in a band of 786 points before settling at 180 points.

On the BSE platform, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki, SBI, HDFC, Kotak Bank, M&M, and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers, up between 1.6 per cent and 2.9 per cent.

On the flipside, Ultratech Cement, Asian Paints, ITC, TCS, HCL Tech, Nestle, and Dr Reddy's Labs were the top losers, down in the range of 1-2.8 per cent.

In the broader markets, BSE midcap and smallcap shares finished on a strong note as Nifty Midcap 100 jumped 1.25 per cent and small-cap soared 1.12 per cent.

On NSE, 10 out of the 15 sector gauges settled in the positive zone. Sub-indexes such as Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Auto, and Nifty Financial Services outperformed the index by rising as much as 2.91 per cent, 2.27 per cent, and 1.32 per cent, respectively.

On specific stocks, shares of ACC and Ambuja Cements were in huge demand after Gautam Adani's group sealed a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Holcim’s India businesses for $10.5 billion.

ACC shares rallied 3.7 per cent to end at Rs 2,192, while Ambuja Cements gained 2.59 per cent to close at Rs 368.10.

 

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, told the PTI, “Weakness in global equities along with unfavourable global cues led to heavy selling towards the closing hours, as investors lacked confidence to take forward their positions.”

On Friday’s trade, the BSE declined 136 points (0.26 per cent) to end at 52,793, while the NSE Nifty dipped 25 points (0.16 per cent) to end at 15,782.

According to stock exchange data, continuing their selling spree, foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 3,780.08 crore on Friday.

Meanwhile, in Asia, markets ended on a mixed note, with Hong Kong and Tokyo settling in the green, while Seoul and Shanghai were marginally lower.

Equity exchanges in Europe were also quoting on a mixed note in the afternoon session.

Stock exchanges in the US had ended with smart gains on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.51 per cent to $111 per barrel.