Sensex rises 42 points in range-bound trade; bank, auto stocks spurt

Market benchmark BSE Sensex rose over 42 points on Monday to close at 40,487.43, driven by buying in select bank and auto counters.

After opening on a weak note, the 30-share BSE Sensex stabilised in afternoon trade and settled with gains of 42.28 points or 0.10 per cent at 40,487.43. The index swung between a high of 40,645.63 and a low of 40,336.56 during the day.

The 50-scrip NSE Nifty closed 16 points or 0.13 per cent higher at 11,937.50.

Among the Sensex stocks, HDFC emerged as the top gainer, rising by 2.06 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Maruti, Reliance, Power Grid and Tata Steel.

On the other hand, TCS, HCL Tech, L&T, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, SBI and ITC lost up to 2.93 per cent.

"Market was range bound as investors are closely watching the upcoming economic macros like CPI inflation and IIP data for any signs of progress in government's effort to revive the economy.

"FIIs are likely to turn risk averse in domestic market as strong US job data, progress in trade talks and expectation of status quo policy from US Fed will add impetus to global market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Sectorally, BSE Energy emerged as the biggest gainer with a rise of 1.06 per cent, followed by oil & gas (1.01 per cent), auto (0.75 per cent) and metal (0.65 per cent).

On the other hand, IT was the biggest loser, dropping 1.02 per cent, followed by realty (1.02 per cent), teck (0.92 per cent) and capital goods (0.78 per cent).

On the currency front, the rupee rose 12 paise to 71.08 against the US dollar in intra-day trade.

Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.81 per cent to USD 63.87 per barrel.

Asian stocks were mixed as investors turned more cautious over US-China trade deal uncertainty amid strong US jobs data and weak Chinese exports numbers.

In Europe, UK's benchmark FTSE and Paris' CAC were down in early trade, while Frankfurt was flat.