A benchmark index of Indian equities markets, the 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex), on Monday was trading 96.64 points, or 0.40 percent down during the morning session.
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The index had lost nearly 666 points in the previous three days following a massive dip in exports and weak global cues after crude slipped below United States dollars 28 a barrel. Shares of heavy-weight, RIL ended 2.51 per cent higher at Rs. 1,043.60 on BSE as participants widened their bets ahead of quarterly earnings, scheduled for after market closing on Tuesday.
Also, the NSE Nifty rose by 42.50 points, or 0.57 per cent, to trade at 7,393.50.
Axis Bank was the best performing stock on both the headline indices and gained almost 3 per cent.
“Indian markets, especially at open, got a breather, after Chinese GDP numbers came in more or less as expected”.
Vaibhav Agarwal, vice president and research head at Angel Broking, elaborated that European markets which traded in the green failed to lift markets.
Stocks of country’s third largest software services firm Wipro fell 1.33 per cent to Rs 536.20 despite posting a 1.8 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,234.1 crore for the December quarter. It is the weakest pace of expansion since the first quarter of 2009.
In other Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.84 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei shed 1.94 per cent in early trade today.
ITC too was down a percent at Rs 312.
The S&P BSE healthcare index plunged by 305.93 points, capital goods index receded by 256.13 points, automobile index declined by 246.43 points, banking index slumped by 199.81 points and consumer durables index edged-lower by 120.27 points.
Buying by retail investors too reemerged in broader markets helping the mid-cap and small-cap indices gain up to 1.75 percent.
The BSE Sensex closed at 24188.37 (down 266.67 points) and the Nifty at 7351 (down 86.80 points).
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Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth Rs 1,203.84 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
