INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed marginally higher on Monday as gains in bank, financial and pharma counters were
offset by losses in auto, IT and metal stocks.
Investors remained on the sidelines ahead of Karnataka election results, due on Tuesday
Moreover, investors also awaited inflation data, expected later in the day, for fresh cues.
Disappointing IIP data, released on Friday,
Industrial output growth fell to a five-month low of 4.4 per cent in March due to decline in capital goods production and deceleration in
mining activity and power generation, according to the official data, released on Friday.
Sensex opened mildly in the green and traded on a
choppy note for most part of the session
During the day, it climbed 107 points to hit its intraday high of 35,643, eventually closing at 35,557, 21 points up
Overall, 16 stocks closed the day in the green, while 15 in the red in the index.
The Nifty50 settled flat at 10,807, with 22 stocks
advancing and 28 declining.
Midcaps and smallcaps declined 0.88 and 1 per cent, respectively, underperforming Sensex.
NTPC, Dr Reddy's
Labs, IndusInd Bank and State Bank of India stood as the top gainers in the Sensex index.
On the contrary, Mahindra Mahindra, Tata Motors,
YES Bank and Bharti Airtel remained the top Sensex losers, each falling over 1 per cent.
Shares of Sun TV Network closed 11.50 per cent up,
buoyed by its March quarter results
The company on Friday reported a 22.82 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 289.76 crore for January-March.
On the other hand, shares of PC
Jeweller tanked 11.56 per cent on Monday as investors remained sceptical over its share buyback plan.
Shares of Reliance Naval and
Engineering plunged 13.43 per cent as the state-run Vijaya Bank has classified the Anil Ambani group-led firm as a non-performing asset from
the March quarter.
Shares of UCO Bank slipped over 2 per cent after net loss of the lender widened to Rs 2,134.36 crore for the fourth
quarter.
Shares of Dena Bank tanked 6 per cent after the Reserve Bank of India directed the bank not to issue any fresh loans and hire new
personnel in the wake of mounting non-performing assets (NPAs).
Among the sectors, bank, finance, utilities and oil gas closed the day in
the green, while all other sectors remained in the red.
Globally, European shares were a little down, while Asian peers logged gains on
