Sensex Loses 85 Points To End At 56,976; Nifty Settles At 17,069

The key benchmark indices started in red on Monday but pared the early morning losses, as both indices recovered amid fresh buying. 

The BSE Sensex ended the day 85 points lower to 56,975, while the NSE Nifty50 closed at 17,069, down 33 points. The losses were largely led by auto, IT and capital goods stocks.

Earlier today, barring IndusInd Bank, NTPC, and Axis Bank, all constituents of the 30-stock gauge opened in the red. 

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer on the Sensex index today, settling 4 per cent, after the lender reported better-than-expected Q4 results. NTPC, Tata Steel, HDFC, PowerGrid, and ITC were the other major gainers. 

On the other hand, Titan, Wipro, Tech M, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, and Asian Paints, were the major losers on the index today.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were also in the negative territory, down 0.45 per cent and 0.8 per cent down, respectively.

About 1,201 shares advanced, 2,180 declined, and 175 were unchanged.

The gainers on the Nifty were IndusInd Bank, Coal India, Tata Steel and Power Grid Corp. Eicher, Apollo Hospital, Titan, Bajaj Auto were among major losers on the Nifty.

Sectorally, the Nifty Metal and Private Bank indices were the top gainers on the NSE, while the Nifty IT was the worst hit.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 index followed Asian stocks lower in sessions affected by holiday closures. U.S. futures rose after April’s slump, among the worst since the pandemic roiled markets in 2020.

The Nasdaq posted its worst month since 2008, closing 4.2 per cent lower on Amazon’s weak earnings. The S&P 500 fell 3.6 per cent and the Dow shed 2.8 per cent.

The US Fed is set to meet on Tuesday-Wednesday to announce a widely expected rate hike. Having priced in a possible 50-bps hike, investors will closely watch out for Fed’s comments on interest rate trajectory, and cues on inflation ahead.

Asian shares drifted lower on Monday as investors focused on an upcoming US Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting. MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down by 0.69 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices fell up to 0.5 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi and the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.6 and 1.4 per cent, respectively.

Oil prices were largely unchanged in early trades, after rising slightly over the weekend. Brent crude was 0.7 per cent down to $106.4 a barrel, while WTI was at $104 per barrel.