Benchmark indices closed higher in the first trading session of this week, led by gains in banking stocks. Sensex rose 125 points to end at 54,402 and Nifty advanced 20 points to 16,258.
On Sensex, M&M was the top gainer, rising over 2 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Titan and Dr Reddy’s. Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, L&T, NTPC and Bajaj Finance were among the top Sensex losers, falling up to 1.61%.
Of 30 Sensex shares, 19 ended in green.
Market cap of BSE listed firms stood at Rs 238.58 lakh crore. Market breadth was negative with 1,291 shares advancing against 2,039 shares falling on BSE.
BSE midcap and small cap indices slipped 248 points and 194 points, respectively.
Sectorally, banking shares were the top gainers with BSE bankex closing 262 points higher at 40,993.
On the other hand, metal stocks led the losses with BSE metal index ending 325 points lower at 20,824.
Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research at Sharekhan said, “Nifty witnessed continuation in consolidation on August 9. Structurally, with this consolidation, the bulls seem to be warming up for the next leg up. Multiple parameters are there on the downside to provide support near 16,200-16,150. This includes hourly lower Bollinger Band, 40 hour exponential moving average & 23.6% retracement of the recent rally. Additionally, a gap area of 16176-16146 is there to offer cushion on the downside. The Nifty is expected to form a base near these support parameters and start the next up move. Short-term target on the upside is pegged at 16,400.”
Meanwhile, rupee halted its five session rally today and fell 11 paise to close at 74.26 against the US dollar, tracking the firm American currency.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened at 74.21 against the American currency and slipped further to close at 74.26, registering a decline of 11 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had settled at 74.15 against the US dollar.
Global markets
European stocks opened lower and Asian markets rose on Monday after US hiring improved and China and Australia tightened anti-virus controls that threaten to weigh on an economic recovery.
London and Frankfurt declined in early trading. Shanghai and Hong Kong closed higher. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.
On Friday, S&P 500 index rose 0.2% and Dow Jones added 0.4% after the Labor Department reported employees added 943,000 workers in July, well above forecasts, and wages rose. The S&P 500 ended up 0.9% for the week.
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.4% to 26,283. Kospi in Seoul fell 0.3% to 3,260 and the S&P-ASX 200 in Sydney ended little changed at 7,538.