Stocks wipe out early gains but end in green, Nifty closes at 11,330

Equity benchmark indices shaved off intraday gains on Monday but ended marginally higher after a choppy trading session.

The BSE S & P Sensex closing at 38,214, about 87 points higher than its previous close, while the Nifty 50 wound up 25 points higher at 11,330.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange except for IT and PSU bank were in the green. Nifty realty closed 1.6 per cent higher, auto by 1.4 per cent and pharma by 1.2 per cent.

Among stocks, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) made a stellar debut on the bourses by listing at Rs 644, a 101 per cent premium to its issue price of Rs 320 per share on the BSE.

Shares of Adani Gas zoomed 9.4 per cent to Rs 150.60 after the company said French energy giant Total SA will acquire 37.4 per cent stake in it for developing multi-energy offerings in the Indian energy market.

ONGC and Tata Motors gained by over 5 per cent while Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement and Sun Pharma were up by over 2 per cent each. The other prominent gainers were IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, JSW Steel, Bajaj Auto and Tata Consultancy Services.

But Reliance Capital touched a low of Rs 15.75, falling 10 per cent after the company agreed to sell its stake in Reliance Securities to clear its outstanding debts.

Infosys slipped by 3.5 per cent after Q2 FY20 results showed the company's profit after tax grew by 5.8 quarter-on-quarter but down by 2.2 year-on-year to Rs 4,019 crore. The other losers were Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid Corporation and UPL.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets traded higher as signs of progress in the US-China trade emerged. South Korea' Kopsi and Shanghai composite index added 1.1 per cent each while Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.8 per cent higher. Tokyo was on holiday.

Meanwhile, the European Union agreed on Friday to hold another round of intense negotiations with Britain in a bid to break the Brexit deadlock and secure a deal before the October 31 deadline.

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