Buying in RIL, Infy snaps 2-day fall

Mumbai benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty bounced back from intra-day lows to settle in positive territory on Monday, helped by fag-end buying in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys and ICICI Bank amid a firm start in European markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 79.27 points or 0.12 per cent to settle at 65,401.92. During the day, it fell 500.77 points or 0.76 per cent to 64,821.88. The NSE Nifty gained 6.25 points or 0.03 per cent to end at 19,434.55.

“Markets continued to witness wild fluctuations due to weak Asian cues, but early optimism in European indices aided the recovery in local markets with the help of buoyancy in IT stocks. However, deflation and demand slowdown in China, coupled with concerns over more rate hikes in developed economies going ahead, have been taking the sheen out of equity markets. Investors are also wary of steady selling by foreign investors in local markets this month, which is causing traders to limit their exposure,” said Shrikant Chouhan, head (research-retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

“Following weak performances in Asian markets, the domestic indices commenced the day with a negative bias, prompted by discouraging domestic industrial data, along with concerns over demand from China. However, the indices managed to recover from their initial losses, ending the day on a relatively neutral note,” said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs2,324.23 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. From the Sensex pack, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints, Nestle, Axis Bank, Wipro and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major gainers.