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Domestic equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended on a bullish note on Monday, driven by heavy gains in index heavyweight Infosys, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Consultancy Services and Mahindra & Mahindra . The 30-share index settled 160.48 points higher at 38,896 level and the broader Nifty50 ended at 11,588, registering a gain of 35 points.
Commenting on the Market rundown today, Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said,"Green shoots from earnings lifted the sentiment of IT, while ease in WPI inflation (June) to 2.02% added some cheer in the market."
On the sectoral front, IT and Tech indices were among top gainers, while capital goods and consumer durable stocks were among top laggards.
"Nifty bank has given negative closing at 30446 with loss of 156 points, support for nifty bank is coming near 30330-30200 zone and resistance is coming near 30600-30850 zone," Mr. Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst - LKP Securities quoted on today's Nifty Movement.
Earlier today, market witnessed volatility ahead of release of WPI inflation numbers, that came later in the day to support today's uptick. Wholesale price-based inflation declined for the second consecutive month to its 23-month low of 2.02% in June and rose by 0.2% to 121.5 from 121.2 for the previous month.
Inflation in food articles basket eased marginally to 6.98% in June, from 6.99% in May and Vegetable inflation softened from 33.15 per cent in the previous month to 24.76% in June.
Infosys shares rallied nearly 7% to hit a new all time high in intra-day trade today, registering the most gain in a year's period, after the company reported strong June quarter earnings on Friday and increased its revenue growth guidance for fiscal year 2020.
Shares of Allahabad Bank declined nearly 15 % on Monday after the lender reported a fraud on Saturday of over Rs 1,774 crore by Bhushan Power and became the second Indian state-owned bank to report a major alleged fraud by bankrupt steelmaker.
DHFL share price hit lower circuit of 9.93% to 61.65 in early trade today after the housing finance company said its financial situation was so grim that it may not survive and reported a huge standalone net loss of Rs 2,223 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31.
On the currency front, Indian Rupee opened strong at 68.59 at the interbank forex market today and gained 16 paise to touch 68.53 per dollar driven by positive opening in domestic equities and easing crude oil prices. However, foreign fund outflows weighed on the domestic currency and restricted the up move.
While European shares drifted lower in their respective early sessions, U.S. equity futures grew following firm cues from Asian equities. Elsewhere in Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index, Hang Seng and Nikkei started day's trade higher and ended in the green.
Oil traded near $60 a barrel earlier as fears about tropical storm slashed U.S. Gulf of Mexico crude output by 73% amid cuts in U.S. oil production and diplomatic tensions in the Middle East.
Brent crude futures rose 0.6%, to $67.12 a barrel, while U.S. crude was up 0.32%, at $60.40 a barrel.
Edited by Rupa Burman Roy