Mumbai May 8 (IANS) Positive global cues a strong rupee and healthy buying in banking automobile and IT stocks buoyed the Indian equity markets to close on a flat-to-positive note on Monday.
The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by 28.75 points or 0.31 per cent to close at 9 314.05 points.
The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE which opened at 29 915.12 points closed at 29 926.15 points -- up 67.35 points or 0.23 per cent from the previous day s close at 29 858.80 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 30 016.04 points -- crossing the important 30 000-mark -- and a low of 29 877.41 points during the day s trade.
The BSE market breadth was bullish with 1 619 advances and 1 151 declines.
In terms of the broader markets the S&P BSE mid-cap index rose by 0.50 per cent while the small-cap index was up 0.70 per cent.
Nifty shifted into minor upside move today and closed the day higher by around 28 points led by cement and bank stocks on a low volume day. After opening on a positive note Nifty shifted into narrow range movement for the whole day Deepak Jasani Head (Retail Research) HDFC Securities told IANS.
Major Asian markets have all ended on a positive note barring SET and Shanghai index. Emmanuel Macron s victory as France s next President helped gains on most of the Asian stocks while European stocks were mixed.
Anand James Chief Market Strategist of Geojit Financial Services said: Earlier in the day French electoral outcome s positivity was dented by weak Chinese data but oil s rise and Saudi and Russia s readiness to extend production cuts could keep US equities northbound.
In investments provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold stocks worth Rs 542.47 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased scrips worth Rs 663.33 crore.
According to Dhruv Desai Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls the equity benchmark indices traded with firm sentiments throughout the session tracking positive global cues and appreciation of the rupee against the US dollar.
The Indian rupee appreciated by seven paise to 64.30-31 per US dollar from its previous close of 64.37-38.
Banking sector stocks faced resistance at higher levels in the second part of the session and traded with mixed sentiments while cement sector stocks complimented the firmness of the markets. Aviation and media-entertainment sector stocks traded firm on strong buying support Desai told IANS.
IT sector stocks witnessed strong buying led by NIITtech and TechM. Most pharma sector stocks witnessed good recovery from lower levels in the second half of the session and ended in green.
Sectorwise the S&P BSE banking index augmented by 202.61 points followed by the automobile index which surged by 155.59 points and the IT index was up by 127.43 points.
On the other hand the S&P BSE FMCG index fell by 60.05 points the capital goods index edged down by 45.13 points and the oil and gas index was down by 30.69 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Monday were: Lupin up 2.32 per cent at Rs 1 279.55; Bharti Airtel up 1.91 per cent at Rs 351.25; Asian Paints up 1.81 per cent at Rs 1 166.90; ICICI Bank up 1.59 per cent at Rs 303.30. and ONGC up 1.53 per cent at Rs 186.20.
Major Sensex losers were: ITC down 1.48 per cent at Rs 272.95; HDFC down 1.08 per cent at Rs 1 529.80; Larsen and Toubro down 0.94 per cent at Rs 1 708.65; Bajaj Auto down 0.94 per cent at Rs 2 863; and Adani Ports down 0.75 per cent at Rs 342.30.
--IANS
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Positive global cues, strong rupee buoy Indian equities (Roundup)
