Sensex: Late selling caps Sensex’s gains, ends 77 pts higher; Nifty near 17,950

NEW DELHI: Benchmark indices scaled fresh highs on Monday but saw profit booking that led to a flattish close. The biggest drag in indices were IT stocks that tumbled like ninepins as TCS Q2 numbers disappointed investors.

Private banks, power and auto stocks were in the spotlight. Reliance Industries also saw some buying interest initially on the back of two deals in the renewable energy segment but the euphoria soon evaporated.

The 30-share pack Sensex rose 76.72 points or 0.13 per cent to close at 60,135.78. Its broader peer NSE Nifty advanced 50.75 points or 0.28 per cent to 17,945.95. The index hit the 18,000 mark for the first time ever.

“The auto sector continued its outperformance in expectation of demand revival during the festive season and power & renewable energy will continue to be in focus. Banking stocks followed the trend owing to strong business preview numbers and favourable credit growth data,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Market at a glance:

• Sterling and Wilson Solar rose nearly 6 per cent after RIL buys 40 per cent stake
• Tata Motors soars over 9 per cent, extending gains to the third session
• Coal India climbs 4 per cent amid coal shortage in power generation plants
• TCS tanks over 6 per cent after Q2 earnings miss Street expectations
• India VIX, a barometer of volatility and fear, rises nearly 3 per cent

Among the bluechip names, Tata Motors was the top gainer, rising 9.10 per cent. Coal India, Maruti Suzuki, Power Grid, Grasim Industries, Hindalco, ONGC, NTPC and ITC were other gainers.

TCS was the top loser in the Nifty pack, falling 6.29 per cent. Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Tech, Britannia, Wipro, HDFC Life Insurance, Reliance Industries and L&T were others that ended in the red.

Broader market indices ended higher, outperforming their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap rose 1.16 per cent and Nifty Midcap advanced 0.61 per cent. Nifty 500, the broadest index on NSE, ended up 0.41 per cent.

Route Mobile, Rossari Biotech, MCX, GMR Infra, Tata Power and ICICI Securities were top gainers from mid and smallcap indices, climbing in the range of 6-9 per cent.

Coforge, Vodafone Idea, Mphasis, Chambal fertilisers, Wockhardt and Firstsource Solutions were major losers from broader market space, falling in the range of 2-7 per cent.

European markets were trading mixed. London-based FTSE was up 0.35 per cent while Paris and Frankfurt declined 0.04 per cent and 0.14 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore ended in the green. Rest registered losses.