In a session marked by high volatility, the benchmark indices meandered between gains and losses to finally settle the day in the green, helped by gains in IT stocks and private lenders. However, broad-based selling was visible as the broader markets posted hefty losses and the advance-decline ratio favoured sellers.
Overall, the BSE Sensex added 125 points or 0.23 per cent to end at 54,403. Meanwhile, Nifty50 ended the day at 16,258, down 20 points or 0.12 per cent. In the 30-pack index, 16 ended in the green and 14 in the red. M&M, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra and Bajaj Finserv were the top gainers while Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, NTPC and L&T were the worst laggards.
The broader markets lagged benchmark. The BSE Smallcap slid 0.72 per cent while BSE Midcap lost 1.07 per cent. Sectorally, Nifty Metal and PSU Bank indices witnessed hefty losses. Nifty Media, on the other hand, rallied the most led by gains in multiplex stocks on reopening trade.
On the stock-specific front, shares of Rolex Rings slid off the listing price to end over 6 per cent down on both BSE and NSE. The scrip had listed at a premium of 39 per cent at Rs 1,250 over the issue price of Rs 900 per share but witnessed profit taking later.
Shares of Piramal Enterprises meanwhile hit over two-year high at Rs 2,856.80 following a strong performance in the June quarter. The company reported consolidated profit after tax of Rs 534 crore, up 8 per cent year on year (YoY), despite consolidated revenues coming in flat at Rs 2,909 crore YoY. The scrip finally settled the day at Rs 2,806, up 5.3 per cent.
MRF stock ended over 1 per cent higher at Rs 80,013.90 per share after posting over a 12-fold increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 166 crore for the first quarter ended June 30. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 13 crore in the April-June quarter of last fiscal.
Shares of Future Retail tanked another 10 per cent as the stock reeled under the impact of the Supreme Court ruling in favour of Amazon that stalled the company's Rs 24,000 crore deal with Reliance Retail.
In the primary market, the trade was lacklustre even as two prominent IPOs opened for trade. Most analysts had assigned subscribe ratings to CarTrade Tech and Nuvoco Vistas but they garnered only 34 per cent and 14 per cent subscription, respectively so far on Day 1.
In the commodity market, gold and silver prices came under pressure, tracking global selloff, with the yellow metal sliding to four-month low. On MCX, gold futures fell 1 per cent to Rs 46,149 per 10 gram while silver shed 2 per cent to Rs 63,721 per kg. A better than expected US jobs data bolstered US dollar and expectations for early tapering of economic support, diminishing gold's sheen.
In other news, equity mutual funds witnessed a staggering net inflow of Rs 22,583 crore in July, making it the fifth consecutive monthly infusion, with flexi-cap category accounting for most of the inflow. This was much higher than a net inflow of Rs 5,988 crore seen in June, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed on Monday. The inflow pushed assets under management (AUM) of the mutual fund industry to an all time high of Rs 35.32 lakh crore in July-end from Rs 33.67 lakh crore in June-end.
Now, going into trade on Tuesday, the action in the commodity market will remain in focus.
Further, primary market action will also be watched out for as two new IPOs -- Aptus Value Housing Finance and Chemplast Sanmar -- will open for subscription. Lastly, earnings and management commentary for the June quarter earnings willl continue to hog limelight. Over 250 companies are slated to post their results on Tuesday, including Zomato, Motherson Sumi Systems, KIMS, Deepak Fertilisers, CAMS, and Heranba Industries.
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