Sensex rises 99 points, Nifty settles a tad above 10,800-mark; IT, metals gain, banks dip

Both the topline indices had opened nearly 1 per cent higher earlier in the day and progressed further during the early morning trade with Sensex rising above the 37,000-mark to hit 37,024.20 and Nifty touching 10,894.05. However, in the afternoon session of trade, the indices pared their gains and briefly turned negative before picking up some steam and ending with minor gains.

On the Sensex, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Reliance Industries (RIL), Bharti Airtel, Infosys and Hindustan Unilever were the top gainers of the day. On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), Power Grid, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India (SBI) were the top laggards. (see heatmap below)

Gainers and losers of the day on the Sensex. (Source: BSE)

Among the sectoral indices, the Nifty IT index was the biggest gainer on Monday rising 1.71 per cent led by gains in Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro Infotech and HCL Technologies. The Nifty Metal index too climbed 1.50 per cent led by Hindalco Industries, Hindustan Zinc and JSW Steel.

However, the key Nifty Bank index ended 1.25 per cent lower weighed by Bank of Baroda, The Federal Bank and HDFC Bank.

Here’s how the sectoral indices performed:

Sectoral gainers and losers of the day on the National Stock Exchange. (Source: NSE)

In the broader market, S&P BSE MidCap index ended at 13,403.74, up 6.91 points (0.05 per cent), while the S&P BSE SmallCap index settled at 12,784.19, down 19.59 points (0.15 per cent).

“In a volatile day of trade, the market gave up almost all of its early gains, before closing out the day with a positive bias. Financials ended negative while IT and FMCG led the sectoral gains. Markets are hoping for further stimulus measures from the RBI, following expectations of a softening of inflation rates, which would give RBI room for further rate cuts. Investors are advised to be cautious and to look at stock specific movements with regards to earnings announcements and the commentary,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said in a statement.

Rupee

The rupee settled on a flat note at 75.19 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday amid high volatility in the domestic equity market.

The rupee, which opened at 75.20 against the US dollar, closed at 75.19 against the US dollar, up by just 1 paisa over its previous close.

It had settled at 75.20 against the greenback on Friday.

During the four-hour trading session, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 75.08 and a low of 75.21 against the US dollar.

Global markets

World shares were approaching a five-month peak and the dollar slipped on Monday as investors wagered the earnings season would see most companies beat forecasts given expectations had been lowered by coronavirus lockdowns.

The US earnings season kicks off this week with major Wall Street banks JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo reporting on Tuesday. It’s expected to be the second-biggest quarterly earnings drop since 1968, according to Refinitiv data.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.8 per cent as Chinese stocks jumped 2.1 per cent on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei gained 2.2 per cent and South Korea 1.7 per cent.

The optimism carried over to Europe, where stocks rose 1 per cent, even as the US on Friday slapped additional duties of 25 per cent on French luxury goods valued at $1.3 billion, in a tit-for-tat response to France’s digital services tax.

MSCI’s All-Country World Index was just shy of hitting Feb. 26 highs. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ticked 0.5 per cent higher despite record new cases of COVID-19 in the US over the weekend, a divergence that shows no sign of stopping.

– rupee input from PTI, global market input from Reuters