Indices recoup early losses as banks, RIL support

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex wiped off early losses to finish with smart gains on Monday, propped up by HDFC twins, SBI and Reliance Industries amid a mixed trend in global equities.

After plunging over 600 points in early trade, the 30-share BSE benchmark made a U-turn to settle 230.01 points or 0.44 per cent higher at 52,574.46. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 63.15 points or 0.40 per cent to 15,746.50. NTPC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 3.87 per cent, followed by Titan, SBI, HUL, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel and IndusInd Bank.

"The domestic market opened on a weak note due to the hawkish monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve. But the market clawed back above day's low and closed in the green as the market expects a faster economic recovery owing to the PM's announcement on free inoculation for all citizens. PSU Bank was the top sectoral performer on reports of the government finalising Central Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank for privatisation," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

Binod Modi, head (strategy) at Reliance Securities, adds that "investors once again seemed to be lapping up quality mid-cap and small-cap stocks after the recent steep correction. Strong rebound in PSU banks was a prime factor for market's recovery. Further, Reliance Industries also recorded some gains ahead of its AGM and arrested market's fall. Barring Auto and IT, most key sectoral indices recovered to green from initial losses."

In value terms, HDFC twins, HUL and Reliance Industries accounted for most of the gains. On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki was the biggest laggard, shedding 0.82 per cent, after the country's largest carmaker said it will increase prices of its entire product portfolio in the second quarter of the current fiscal due to rise in prices of various essential commodities, including steel. TCS, Tech Mahindra, M&M, L&T and Infosys were among the other losers, skidding up to 0.74 per cent.

Sectorally, BSE power, realty, utilities, oil and gas, finance and bankex rose up to 2.55 per cent, while auto, IT and teck ended in the red. Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices rose up to 0.83 per cent. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses largely ended with losses. In Europe, equities were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals. International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.18 per cent higher at USD 73.64 per barrel. The Indian rupee slumped 24 paise to finish at 74.10 per US dollar as participants turned risk-averse. Meanwhile, India logged 53,256 new coronavirus infections, the lowest in 88 days, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,99,35,221, while the active cases further reduced to 7,02,887, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.