Markets end with small gains as investors book profits

Mumbai: Benchmark gauges Sensex and Nifty on Monday pulled back from the day's highs, but managed to settle with marginal gains as investors rushed to book profits following a stellar rally.

The 30-share BSE Sensex surged over 640 points in early trade, mirroring bullish sentiments in global markets in the wake of surprisingly strong US jobs data, but an intense volatility gripped the index as the session progressed. After fighting bouts of volatility during the day, the Sensex ended 83.34 points, or 0.24 per cent, higher at 34,370.58. Similarly, the NSE Nifty closed 25.30 points, or 0.25 per cent, up at 10,167.45.

On the Sensex chart, IndusInd Bank was the top gainer, soaring around 7 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, ONGC, Titan, Infosys and Tech Mahindra. Among the top losers were: Mahindra and Mahindra, Ultratech Cement, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel and Nestle India.

Shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) jumped around 3 per cent during the day, hitting one-year peak, after the company sold 1.16 per cent stake in its digital unit Jip Platforms to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for Rs 5,683.50 crore. Its shares, however, closed 0.51 per cent lower as investors cashed in on recent gains.

Of the 30 constituents on the Sensex, 16 shares closed in the green and 14 in the red. Sectorally, BSE oil and gas, IT, industrials, consumer durables, utilities, bankex and finance indices surged up to 2.79 per cent, while basic materials, healthcare, metal and auto fell up to 0.90 per cent. In the broader market, midcap and smallcap indices surged up to 0.93 per cent.

"Domestic markets succumbed to profit-booking after opening higher mirroring firm cues from other global markets after a surprise surge in US employment fanned optimism over the economic recovery from coronavirus pandemic," Paras Bothra, President of Equity Research, Ashika Stock Broking, said. On the currency front, the Indian rupee was up 3 paise at 75.55 against the US dollar.

Globally, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo settled with gains, while those in Europe were trading on a weak note. Meanwhile, crude oil prices rose after major oil producing nations agreed to extend a production cut to counter the blow to demand in the wake of Covid outbreak.