Nifty ends higher for second consecutive day

Mumbai: Nifty ended higher for the second consecutive session on Monday.

At close, Nifty was up 0.49 per cent or 93.7 points at 19140.9. Volumes on the NSE were the lowest since October 9, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

Asia-Pacific markets started the week mixed ahead of key economic data like monetary policy decisions from Japan and Malaysia, inflation data from South Korea, and gross domestic growth figures from Taiwan and Hong Kong.

European shares opened higher on Monday after a mixed trading session in Asia ahead of a Federal Reserve decision this week on interest rates.

Israel's push into Gaza stirred fears of a wider conflict, Jasani said.

Nifty concluded the day on a positive note -- up by 0.49 per cent -- with the majority of sectoral indices also doing so.

The Nifty Reality, Nifty Oil and Gas, and Nifty Energy were the top performing sectors for the day, up by 2.14 per cent 1.34 per cent and 1.20 per cent, respectively, said Vaibhav Vidwani, Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.

Good numbers reported by companies of these sectors fuelled optimism in them.

BPCL, UltraTech Cement, ONGC, Reliance Industries and SBI Life Insurance were among the major gainers on the Nifty, while the losers were UPL, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and Axis Bank.