Sensex, Nifty end six-day fall as banking shares advance

PTI

Mumbai, May 16

Benchmark BSE Sensex rebounded by 180 points at close after a see-saw trade on Monday, ending its six-day falling streak on the back of gains in banking, financials, power and auto counters.

The 30-share BSE benchmark gained 180.22 points or 0.34 per cent to settle at 52,973.84. During the day, it zoomed 634.66 points or 1.20 per cent to 53,428.28.

The broader NSE Nifty went up by 60.15 points or 0.38 per cent to finish at 15,842.30, logging its first gain in seven sessions. Sensex and Nifty tanked over 5 per cent in the previous six sessions due to heavy selling by FPIs over inflation concerns.

Among the Sensex firms, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, State Bank of India, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, M&M, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Titan and HDFC Bank were the biggest gainers.

In contrast, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, ITC and TCS were among the laggards.

Shares of ACC and Ambuja Cements were in huge demand after Gautam Adani’s group clinched a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Holcim Ltd’s businesses in India for USD 10.5 billion.

ACC shares rallied 3.7 per cent to end at Rs 2,192 while Ambuja Cements gained 2.59 per cent to close at Rs 368.10.

Markets in Asia ended on a mixed note, with Hong Kong and Tokyo settling in the green, while Seoul and Shanghai were marginally lower.

Equity exchanges in Europe were also quoting on a mixed note in the afternoon session.

Stock exchanges in the US had ended with smart gains on Friday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.51 per cent to USD 111 per barrel.

“Continued selling by FIIs as they chase high yield US bonds restricts the Indian market to hold on to its pull-back rally, despite interest from domestic investors.

“Weakness in global equities along with unfavourable global cues led to heavy selling towards the closing hours, as investors lacked confidence to take forward their positions,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In the previous trade on Friday, the BSE benchmark declined 136.69 points or 0.26 per cent to end at 52,793.62. The NSE Nifty dipped 25.85 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 15,782.15.

Continuing their selling spree, foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 3,780.08 crore on Friday, according to stock exchange data. PTI

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