The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex fell 80.09 points to 28812.88 while the National Stock Exchange Nifty 50 dropped 43 points to end at 8896.70 on Monday. Weak global cues and cautious trading by investors before Tuesday’s gross domestic product data release for third quarter kept the mood down, reported The Hindu.
Among the top gainers of the day were Reliance, Wipro and Coal India while some of the biggest losers were Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank. The shares of Reliance in particular soared 6.3% to touch a seven-year high. Overall, the banking index fell by 1.31% and auto dropped 0.96%. Oil and gas index gained 0.6% while healthcare and information technology indexes soared 0.31% and 0.27%, respectively during the day’s trade.
The performance of the oil and gas index was boosted by the soaring shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited. After reports emerged that ONGC will take control of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited as part of the government’s plan to set up an integrated public sector oil entity, the shares of ONGC soared 1.1% to Rs 197.85.
The National Stock Exchange on Monday fluctuated a lot and hit a two-week high during the afternoon trade. It was close to 9,000, a level that it last touched on March 4, 2015. However, the poor performance by banks pulled down NSE.
The Asian shares, however, traded low amid speculations about Donald Trump’s speech on Tuesday. The United States president is likely to announce tax cuts during a joint session of the Congress. “Investors await key events such as Trump’s speech as well as comments from Federal Reserve officials later in the week,” Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services, told Mint.
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