Mumbai– After shuttling between the red and the green through the day, the key Indian equity indices finally ended their five-day losing streak and closed nearly one per cent higher on Tuesday as investors took to bargain buying.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended nearly 350 points higher and the NSE Nifty50 was able to regain the 11,000-mark.
Although the session was largely volatile, buying picked up in the last hour of trade, which helped the indices close on a positive note.
The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange provisionally closed at 11,067.45 points, higher 100.05 points or 0.91 per cent from its previous close.
The BSE Sensex, which had opened at 36,350.25 points, closed at 36,652.06 points, up 347.04 points or 0.96 per cent from its previous close of 36,305.02 points.
It touched an intra-day high of 36,705.79 points and a low of 36,064.10 points.
“Benchmark indices opened the day lower and oscillated around the flat line through the day to finally close with gains of over one per cent,” said Abhijeet Dey, Senior Fund Manager for Equities at BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.
“Global sentiment was muted as well as investors turned cautious, after the latest round of US-China tariffs revived fears that the trade dispute would negatively impact global growth, while crude oil (prices) rose to near four-year highs after Saudi Arabia and Russia ruled out immediate production increases,” he said.
Brent crude oil is currently around $82 per barrel.
HSFC Securities’ Head of Retail Research, Deepak Jasani, said Nifty had opened on a negative note, but buying soon resumed as bargain hunting emerged and pushed the index higher.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee closed at 72.69 per US dollar, weaker six paise from its previous close of 72.63 per greenback.
Investment-wise, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold stocks worth Rs 1,231.70 crore and domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 2,284.26 crore.
The top Sensex gainers were: Axis Bank, up 2.96 per cent at Rs 615.25; HDFC, up 2.95 per cent at Rs 1,771.75; Kotak Mahindra Bank, up 2.88 per cent at Rs 1,182.50; Hindustan Unilever, up 2.72 per cent at Rs 1,634.30; and Maruti Suzuki, up 2.66 per cent at Rs 8,003.30 per share.
On the other hand, major Sensex losers were: Power Grid, down 3.07 per cent at Rs 192.35; Yes Bank, down 2.83 per cent at Rs 219.85; Coal India, down 2.22 per cent at Rs 275.20; Adani Ports, down 2.04 per cent at Rs 338.70 and Tata Steel, down 1.10 per cent at Rs 599.95 per share.
