Sensex, Nifty advance on gains in IT, FMCG stocks; PowerGrid up 3%

Stock market barometers Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher on Monday as rise in wholesale inflation capped early gains, despite a positive trend in global markets.

The 30-share index settled 32.02 points or 0.05 per cent higher at 60,718.71 with half of its constituents ending in green.

The broad-based Nifty edged up 6.70 points or 0.04 per cent to close at 18,109.45.

PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by ITC, Asian Paints, Nestlé India and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

TCS rose by 0.83 per cent, while Infosys inched up 0.31 per cent. HUL, Dr Reddy’s and Sun Pharma were also among the gainers.        On the other hand, Tata Steel fell the most by 3.24 per cent, followed by M&M which declined 1.19 per cent. Bajaj Auto, Reliance, SBI and Bharti Airtel declined.

Indian markets opened on a positive note on Monday despite mixed cues from Asian market peers where Chinese shares traded lower post better than expected consumer spend data, said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi.

During the afternoon session markets lost initial gains and traded marginally in green with buying in healthcare, IT, and tech stocks.

"Upside remain capped as WPI inflation in October surged to 12.54 per cent from 10.66 per cent a month ago and 1.31 per cent in October 2020," he noted.