Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India]: Equity frontline indices traded firm on Monday led by gains in IT and financial stocks. At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 226 points or 0.41 per cent at 55,556 while the Nifty 50 rose by 46 points or 0.28 per cent to 16,496. Ironically, most sectoral indices closed in the red except for Nifty IT which rose by 1.7 per cent and financial service which gained by 0.4 per cent. Nifty auto was down by 1.5 per cent, realty by 1 per cent, metal by 0.8 per cent and PSU bank by 0.5 per cent. Among stocks, HCL Technologies advanced by 4.2 per cent to Rs 1,165 per share after the company said it has signed a contract with reinsurer Munich Re to create a next-generation digital workplace for its workforce. Tata Consultancy Services rose by 2.1 per cent, Wipro by 1.3 per cent, Tech Mahindra by 1.1 per cent and Infosys by 0.3 per cent. The other prominent gainers were Nestle India, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Hindalco, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Hindustan Unilever. However, cement manufacturer Grasim fell by 3.1 per cent to close at Rs 1,438 per share. Eicher Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Adani Ports and UltraTech Cement too traded with a negative bias. Meanwhile, Asian share markets tried to pick up the pieces following last week’s thrashing as coronavirus concerns showed little sign of abating. Japan’s Nikkei lifted up by 1.78 per cent from 8-month lows as bargain-hunters propped auto shares. Hong Kong shares were higher by 1.05 per cent as tech and healthcare stocks gained. South Korea’s Kospi rose by 0.97 per cent after positive exports data and tech gains.
