MARKET CLOSING UPDATES: The Benchmark BSE Sensex advanced by 319 points on Monday on gains in IT and financial stocks after positive quarterly results amid supportive global cues. The index opened higher and gained over r400 points to scale the 61,000 level. At intraday, it touched a high of 61,113.27 and a low of 60,761.88 in the day.
At close, the 30-share BSE index rose by 319.90 or 0.53 percent to close at 60,941.67. The NSE Nifty gained 90.90 points or 0.5 percent to settle at 18,118.55 as 32 of its stocks advanced while 18 declined.
Among Sensex stocks, Hindustan Unilever rose the most by 1.89 percent. Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, SBI, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC Finance, and Nestle were among major gainers. Conversely, UltraTech Cement was the biggest loser, falling by 4.62 percent. NTPC, L&T, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, and Titan were also among the losers.
International Markets: Shares in Europe and Asia also gained on Monday following a rally in stocks in U.S. markets on Friday. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 1.3 percent despite concerns that Japan is facing a severe financial situation after spending heavily to counter the pandemic and other troubles. Most Asian markets were closed for Lunar New Year holidays. In Europe, Germany's DAX edged 0.1 percent higher, the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.1 percent and Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.2 percent.
Crude Oil: Brent crude, the price benchmark for international trading, declined 17 cents to USD 87.46 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Friday as they sold shares worth Rs.2,002.25 crore, as per Stock exchange data.