Mkt ends higher amid thin volumes, auto stocks up

Mumbai: It was a good closing for markets but on extremely thin volumes but good breadth. It started with a gap up showed some weakness but pulled up again to end on a high note.

The markets have seen been very volatile in the last two weeks but saw a decent session of trade on Monday.

Cues from Asia were mixed and Europe was trading with a gain of around 1 per cent supporting markets at higher level. Other than IT index all the BSE sector indices ended in green. Auto, FMCG and metal index were up over 1.5 per cent.

IT stocks slipped as rupee is trading strong at 40.58 levels. HUL and Tata Power showed solid surge.

Sensex was up 148.96 points or 1.00 per cent at 15017.21, and the Nifty up 40.30 points or 0.93 per cent at 4373.65.

About 2026 shares have advanced, 907 shares declined, and 64 shares are unchanged.

The broader markets have outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE Midcap Index ended at 6,575.17 up 68 points or 1 per cent.

The BSE Smallcap Index ended at 8,028.28 up 124 points or 1.6 per cent. The BSE Bankex closed at 7,827.77 up 0.7 per cent. Centurion Bank, Axis Bank, Federal Bank, IOB, Canara Bank moved upwards.

The BSE Capital Goods Index was up 0.4 per cent at 12,815.39. Triveni Engg, ABB, Thermax, Carborundum, BEML, Jyoti Structure closed higher.

The BSE Health Care Index was up 1 per cent at 3,641.14. Orchid Chemical, Cipla, Glenmark, Panacea Biotech, Matrix Lab, Ranbaxy Labs closed higher.

The BSE Auto Index closed at 4,825.93 up 2 per cent. MRF, Exide Industrie, Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog, Mah and Mah, Bajaj Auto advanced.

The BSE Metal Index closed at 11,008.83 up 1 per cent. Jindal Steel, Jindal Saw, Sterlite Ind, Shree Precoated, Tata Steel advanced higher.

The BSE FMCG Index gained 1.5 per cent at 1,932.16. HUL, Tata Tea, Godrej Consumer, Nestle, ITC closed higher.

BSE Oil and Gas Index closed at 7,810.81 up 0.7 per cent. Reliance Natura, BPCL, Reliance Petro, Reliance, Petronet LNG ended in green.

The BSE IT Index closed at 4,765.04 down 0.2 per cent. HCL Tech, Mphasis, Infosys, TCS closed lower.

The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 8245.56 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 31627.64 crore. The BSE cash turnover was Rs 3703.52 crore. Total market wide turnover was at Rs 43576.72 crore.