Easing geo-political tensions, buying in index heavyweights lift equities (Roundup)

Continuing the fourth consecutive session of gains, the key Indian equity indices closed on a higher note on Monday as easing geo-political tensions between China and India, coupled with healthy buying in consumer durables, capital goods and IT stocks, lifted the sentiments of investors.

Despite negative global cues and persistent outflow of foreign funds, the upward trajectory of the key indices was supported by intense buying activities observed in index heavyweights like Infosys, Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma, and Hindustan Unilever, as well as a strong rupee, market observers said.

The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by 55.75 points or 0.57 per cent to close the day's trade at 9,912.80 points.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 31,756.87 points, closed at 31,750.82 points -- up 154.76 points or 0.49 per cent from Thursday's close at 31,596.06 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 31,809.70 points and a low of 31,701.67 points during the intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was bullish with 1,612 advances and 956 declines.

In terms of the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap index rose by 1.02 per cent, and the small-cap index by 1.09 per cent.

"Markets began the week on a positive note as the Nifty surged higher to close above the 9,900 levels on Monday. It was the fourth consecutive session of gains for the Nifty," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.

"Most of the gains on indices were contributed by jump in IT index heavyweight Infosys following announcement of an overhaul of its board of directors. Meanwhile, geo-political tensions eased after the government reportedly said India and China agreed to disengage at Doklam area," Jasani added.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee strengthened by 13 paise to 63.90-91 to a US dollar from its previous close at 64.03-04.

In investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold scrips worth Rs 124.74 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased stocks worth Rs 476.26 crore.

"Indian equity benchmarks traded at the session's high after India's foreign ministry spokesperson tweeted that the nation agreed with China to disengage border troops at the 'face-off' site at Doklam," said Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls.

"Top NSE traded stocks were Indian Oil Corp, Infosys and NTPC, while on the losing front were Dr. Reddy's Lab, Power Grid and Tata Motors," Desai told IANS.

Sector-wise, all the 19 sub-indices of the BSE ended in the green, led by the S&P BSE consumer durables index, which surged by 224.15 points.

This was followed by the S&P BSE capital goods index, which rose by 142.22 points, the IT index by 125.67 points and the FMCG index by 111.54 points.

Major Sensex gainers on Friday were: Infosys, up 3.14 per cent at Rs 941.15; NTPC, up 2.10 per cent at Rs 172.70; Sun Pharma, up 1.96 per cent at Rs 492.75; Hero MotoCorp, up 1.93 per cent at Rs 3,949.40; and Hindustan Unilever, up 1.87 per cent at Rs 1,201.

Major Sensex losers were: Dr. Reddy's Lab, down 2.01 per cent at Rs 2,045.95; Tata Motors, down 1.25 per cent at Rs 379.20; Power Grid, down 1 per cent at Rs 217.75; Tata Motors (DVR), down 0.75 per cent at Rs 225.65; and State Bank of India, down 0.41 per cent at Rs 279.30.

--IANS

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