Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty on Monday rose for a third straight session but gains were restricted due to fag-end selling in financial and auto counters amid growing concerns over economic slowdown and health of NBFCs.
After rallying 369 points during the day tracking positive global cues, the 30-share Sensex settled 52.16 points, or 0.14 per cent, higher at 37,402.49. It hit an intra-day high of 37,718.88 and low of 37,358.49.
The broader NSE Nifty too edged 6.10 points, or 0.06 per cent, up at 11,053.90. During the day, it swung between a high of 11,146.90 and low of 11,037.85.
Over the past three sessions, the Sensex has gained 444.33 points, or 1.20 per cent, while the Nifty has advanced 128.05 points, or 1.17 per cent.
However, a sense of caution still prevails among investors who are awaiting some measures from the government to arrest demand slowdown in various sectors which has been pulling down the economy.
Further, lingering concerns over the health of non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) made markets jittery, leading to sell-offs in financial stocks.
Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Sun Pharma, TechM, Axis Bank, L&T, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank, which rose up to 2.66 per cent. On the other hand, Yes Bank, PowerGrid, ONGC, SBI, Mahindra and Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Steel, Asian Paints and HDFC Bank were among the major laggards — losing as much as 3.46 per cent.
Sectorally, BSE consumer durables, capital goods, industrials, healthcare, energy and IT indices ended up to 1.57 per cent higher. While, BSE oil and gas, auto, metal and FMCG indices fell up to 0.59 per cent.
Banking stocks fell after Reserve Bank governor Shaktikanta Das ruled out ordering an asset quality review of the systematically important shadow banks for now.
