Indices edge up on gains in financials shares; end four-day losing streak

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed marginally up in highly volatile trade on Monday, snapping their four-day losing streak even as weak global trends and foreign fund outflows dented the investor sentiment. After gyr­ating 461.6 points during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex eked out a marginal gain of 14.54 points or 0.02 per cent to settle at 66,023.69. During the day, it hit a high of 66,225.63 and a low of 65,764.03.

Snapping its four-day losing streak, the broader Nifty settled marginally up 0.30 points at 19,674.55 as 24 of its components advanced while 26 declined. Gains in financials, consumer durables, realty and banking shares were offset by losses in IT, oil & gas and pharma shares. In the four sessions to Friday, the 50-issue barometer declined 3.37 per cent or 518 points while Sensex plunged 1,829 points or 3 per cent following a record 11-day rally.

Analysts said a fresh uptick in US treasury yields is making investors jittery amid rising concerns over inflation and high interest rates while FIIs continue to offload shares in local equities.

Among the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance jumped the most by 4.64 per cent. Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, NTPC, JSW Steel and Tata Steel were among the major gainers. Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, IndusInd Bank and HCLTech were the major laggards.

After 6-month gap, RIL hits oversold level 

Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) fell for a fifth day, pushing India’s largest company by market valuation into oversold territory for the first time since March. Some investors may see that as a potential for a rebound, as has been the case when shares hit that technical level previously.The stock dropped 0.7 per cent to Rs 2,339.50 in provisional close on Monday, poised to breach its 200-day moving average.

The company’s shares have been trailing the benchmark gauges this year, gaining only 0.9 per cent year-to-date. A slide since late July was further accel­erated amid a consolidation in local shares after the Sensex index hit its all-time high earlier this month. 

Delta Corp shares sink on tax blow 

Shares of casino operator Delta Corp plunged as much as 20 per cent on Monday to their lowest since January 2021, after the company said that it received a notice to pay Rs 11,140 crore ($1.34 billion) in tax arrears.

Delta Corp, valued at about $466.4 million, added that the company and two of its units received intimations of an additional tax shortfall aggregating to Rs 5,683 crore for the period between July 2017 and March 2022.

Delta's shares are down about 32 per cent this year and about 50.8 million shares changed hands by 1:12 p.m. IST, more than 16 times their 30-day average.

The shares pared some of the losses in early trading and were last down nearly 18 per cent at Rs 144.7 apiece.