Equity benchmark Sensex staged a smart recovery from the day's low to end with marginal losses on Monday, propped up by robust buying in FMCG and telecom counters.
After plunging over 750 points in early trade, the 30-share BSE index made a U-turn to finish or 0.13 per cent lower at 48,718.52.
Titan was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding 4.58 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, ITC, SBI, ONGC and ICICI Bank.
On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, HUL, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, NTPC and Nestle India were among the gainers, climbing up to 3.98 per cent.
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"Domestic equities recovered sharply from day's low despite weak global cues. While growing uncertainties about collection efficiency and asset quality of banks/NBFCs dragged heavy weight financials, strong buying in FMCG and Metals supported recovery in markets," said Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities.
While persistent rise in second wave of Covid-19 cases has weighed on investors’ sentiments, steady corporate earnings with positive managements’ commentaries offered support to markets, he noted.
The government on Tuesday said it is exploring the feasibility of converting existing nitrogen plants to produce oxygen.
On the macroeconomic front, India's manufacturing sector activity was largely flat in April, as rates of growth for new orders and output eased to eight-month lows amid the intensification of the Covid-19 crisis, a monthly survey showed on Monday.
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Sectorally, BSE consumer durables, energy, bankex, oil and gas, realty and finance indices fell up to 1.99 per cent, while telecom, metal, FMCG, industrials and basic materials closed in the green.
Broader BSE midcap and small-cap indices outperformed the benchmark, spurting as much as 1.57 per cent.
The daily Covid-19 cases in India showed a slight dip with 3,68,147 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, taking the total tally of cases to 1,99,25,604, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.
The death toll increased to 2,18,959 with 3,417 daily new fatalities.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong and Seoul ended on a negative note. Stock exchanges in Shanghai and Tokyo were closed for holidays.
European markets were largely trading with losses in mid-session deals.
The rupee rose by 14 paise to close a nearly one-month high of 73.95 against the US dollar on Monday following losses in the American currency in the global markets.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex rebounded from its early lows and settled 63.84 points or 0.13 per cent down at 48,718.52, while the NSE Nifty closed 3.05 points or 0.02 per cent higher at 14,634.15.
in Asia, where some markets including those in Tokyo and Shanghai were closed for holidays. London was also closed for the May Day holiday.
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Hong Kong and Seoul declined while Paris and Frankfurt advanced. US futures were higher.
Shares also fell in Singapore and Taiwan.
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