Stock markets rebound amid short covering

Mumbai: Benchmark BSE Sensex and Nifty closed higher by nearly one per cent on Monday, ending their two-session losing streak following heavy buying in banking, oil and FMCG shares.

The 30-share BSE barometer jumped 468.38 points or 0.76 per cent to settle at 61,806.19 as 24 of its stocks advanced. During the day, it advanced 507.11 points or 0.82 per cent to a high of 61,844.92. The broader NSE Nifty climbed 151.45 points or 0.83 per cent to end at 18,420.45. The indices had declined by more than 2 per cent in the last two sessions.

"Stabilizing after the previous session, domestic indices edged towards gains owing to optimistic cues from western markets. The IT sector stood out as an exception to the rally, as the growth guidance of the US IT sector signaled downgrades. Fears of a worldwide recession and mounting local Covid cases weighed heavily on Asian stocks," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 1,975.44 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.67 per cent and smallcap index climbed 0.29 per cent. Among sectoral indices, services jumped 1.94 per cent, auto climbed 1.67 per cent, FMCG (1.43 per cent), consumer discretionary (0.94 per cent), energy (0.93 per cent) and metal (0.91 per cent). IT and teck were the laggards.

From the Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti, ITC, Titan, Nestle, Bajaj Finance and Reliance Industries were the major winners. Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Tata Motors and IndusInd Bank were among the laggards.

"Optimism in European markets and short covering helped local benchmarks stage a smart bounce back even as other Asian market peers languished in negative territory. Despite the recovery, investors are lacking confidence after the recent US Federal Reserve's indication of more rate hikes in the coming year.

While markets may stay volatile in the coming sessions, selective buying will continue to be the mantra of investors till the worries of interest rates subside," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower. Equity exchanges in Europe were trading in the green in mid-session deals. The US markets had ended lower on Friday. International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.15 per cent to $ 79.95 per barrel.