Sensex, Nifty at the high point of the day

The domestic equity benchmarks were currently at the day's high in mid morning trade. The Nifty hovered near the 17,600 mark. FMCG shares were in demand.

At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 126.89 points or 0.22% to 59,142.78. The Nifty 50 index added 9.85 points or 0.06% to 17,595.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was trading flat while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.09%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1597 shares rose and 1535 shares fell. A total of 160 shares were unchanged.

Investors will continue to focus on the U.S. Federal Reserve's upcoming September meeting for clues on the central bank's tapering of its easy monetary policy. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference on Wednesday at the conclusion of the two-day meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Prospects of tighter U.S. monetary policy and the Delta variant-induced slowdown in global economic growth coupled with possible corporate tax hikes worried the investor community.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 228,502,047 with 4,691,332 deaths. India reported 318,181 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 445,133 deaths according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty FMCG index rose 1.72% to 41,498.65. The index had declined 0.51% to end at 40,798.90 on Friday.

ITC (up 2.92%), Hindustan Unilever (up 2.72%), Marico (up 1.77%), Emami (up 1.63%), Britannia Industries (up 1.47%) and Jubilant Foodworks (up 1.26%) advanced.

Further, Varun Beverages (up 0.89%), Nestle India (up 0.75%), United Spirits (up 0.40%), Godrej Consumer (up 0.34%), United Breweries (up 0.33%) and Colgate-Palmolive India (up 0.24%) edged higher.

Meanwhile, Procter & Gamble Hygiene (down 0.70%), Tata Consumer Products (down 0.62%) and Dabur India (down 0.30%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

KEC International gained 1.34% to Rs 424.5 after the EPC company announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% equity in Spur Infrastructure for an enterprise value of Rs 62 crore, subject to customary adjustments.

Spur Infra is an Indian EPC company engaged in setting up of cross-country oil & gas pipelines and city gas distribution networks. KEC said the acquisition is to diversify into adjacent areas of growth. It will also enable KEC to capture lucrative growth opportunities in the oil & gas cross-country pipelines sector.

Larsen & Toubro gained 0.66% to Rs 1,726.80. The company's wholly owned subsidiary, L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering, won a 'significant' order from Petronet LNG. According L&T's classification, the value of the said contracts lies between Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,500 crore.

Global Markets:

Markets in Asia were trading mostly lower on Monday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined over 3% as shares of shares of embattled Chinese developer China Evergrande Group continued their decline.

Concerns that China's second-largest property developer Evergrande could default on its debts is spilling over into China's financial markets and even risks contagion that could spread to markets beyond China.

Markets in mainland China, Japan and South Korea are closed on Monday for holidays.

Meanwhile, shares in Europe could witness a muted opening today as concerns linger over the U.S. Federal Reserve's tapering timetable.

US stocks dipped on Friday as investors remain cautious due to a resurgent Covid virus and a historical tendency for September to be a weak month for equities.

The Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Friday rejected a plan to administer booster shots of Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to the general public.

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