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• BSE Sensex ended 131.18 pts or 0.17% higher at 77,341.08
• In early trade, benchmark declined 463.96 pts or 0.60% to 76,745.94
• Later, Sensex bounced back by 213.12 pts or 0.27% to 77,423.02 during the day
• Nifty went up 36.75 pts or 0.16% to 23,537.85
• M&M, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, Nestle, UltraTech Cement, NTPC, ITC, ICICI Bank, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Airtel, and HDFC Bank were gainers
• IndusInd Bank, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, RIl, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance among laggards
• FIIs offloaded equities worth Rs1,790.19 cr on Friday

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed higher on Monday as buying in power, auto and industrial stocks helped the indices rebound from early lows amid a bearish trend in global equity markets. However, volatility in markets ahead of the week’s monthly expiry and selling pressure on metal and oil & gas counters kept investors on the back foot, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 131.18 points, or 0.17 per cent, higher at 77,341.08. In early trade, the benchmark had declined 463.96 points, or 0.60 per cent, to 76,745.94. Later, it bounced back 213.12 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 77,423.02 during the day. The Nifty rose 36.75 points, or 0.16 per cent, to settle at 23,537.85.

“Markets stayed volatile ahead of this week’s monthly expiry as key benchmark indices ended with modest gains after a sharp fall in early trades amid selective buying in auto, power and capital goods shares while selling in IT, metal and oil & gas pared gains. “Stocks may see sharp gyrating during the week investors would resort to value buying in select counters,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said. Among the 30 Sensex companies, Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, Nestle, UltraTech Cement, NTPC, ITC, ICICI Bank, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, and HDFC Bank were among the biggest gainers. IndusInd Bank, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance were among the laggards. In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.37 per cent, and the smallcap index rose 0.27 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, auto rallied 1.33 per cent, power (1.28 per cent), industrials (1 per cent), utilities (0.88 per cent) and consumer discretionary (0.87 per cent). On the other hand, commodities, IT, metal and services were the laggards. “Despite the market being on a consolidative path, sectoral churning is visible in FMCG and consumer durables in anticipation of the budget expectations. “Better tax collection and dividends from the RBI will encourage GoI on rural spending and tax benefits. In mid- and small caps, though the margin of safety in terms of valuation remains lacking, investors are keener on the growth story in capital goods, infra, auto, etc,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

S&P Global Ratings on Monday retained India’s GDP growth forecast for the current financial year at 6.8 per cent and said high interest rates and lower fiscal spur would temper demand. In its economic outlook for Asia Pacific, S&P Global Ratings said India’s economic growth continues to surprise on the upside, with the economy growing 8.2 per cent in the 2023-24 fiscal. In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled lower, while Tokyo ended in positive territory.