Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices gained in early trade on Monday after falling in the previous two trading sessions, amid buying in index heavyweights ITC, ICICI Bank, and Infosys. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed by 91.03 points to settle at 63,070.40 points in early trade. The NSE Nifty advanced by 39.30 points to end at 18,704.80 points.
On Friday, Sensex fell by 259.52 points or 0.41 percent to settle at 62,979.37 points while Nifty declined by 105.75 points or 0.56 percent to end at 18,665.50 points. According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 344.81 crore on Friday.
From the Sensex pack, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Titan, Nestle, ICICI Bank, and Infosys were the biggest gainers. Tata Consultancy Services, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, and NTPC were among the laggards. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed by 0.05 percent to USD 73.89 a barrel.
In Asian markets, Seoul quoted in the green while Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong traded lower. The US markets ended in negative territory on Friday. "Intra-day, the market may witness a choppy ride as the recent interest rate hike by the BoE and the US Fed hinting at two more rate hikes this year coupled with mounting Chinese growth fears point towards a challenging environment for the global economic recovery path," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
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