By Bharath Rajeswaran and Manvi Pant
BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s benchmark indexes ended higher in a choppy session on Monday, led by gains in consumer goods stocks as traders remained upbeat about a demand revival after a stable monsoon.
The Nifty 50 index settled 0.34% higher at 24,936.4 points.
The S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.46% at 81,559.54 points.
Both benchmarks snapped a three-session losing streak on Monday, after swinging between 0.4% gains and losses for most of the session.
The consumer index rose 2.04% to a record high, continuing their outperformance over benchmarks.
The FMCG index has gained 13.6% since the start of July compared to a 3.9% rise in the Nifty.
Thirteen of the 15 constituents of the consumer index advanced, with Hindustan Unilever’s 3% rise the most on the Nifty.
Signs of recovery in the rural economy due to a stable monsoon and the likelihood of price hikes later in the year are supporting the interest in consumer stocks, said analysts at Mirae Asset Mutual Fund.
High-weightage financials rose about 0.8%, helping the benchmarks close higher.
However, all other sectors logged losses.
The broader, more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps lost about 1% and 0.3%, respectively.
“We believe that with the recent run-up in the market, most of the narrative is already priced in,” said Neeraj Chadawar of Axis Securities.
“We see near-term consolidation in the market, while the margin of safety in mid- and small-caps has reduced compared to large-caps.”
Among individual stocks, Granules India dropped 3.1% after the U.S.
drug regulator scrutinised one of its facilities.
PC Jeweller rose 5% after Kotak Mahindra Bank agreed to a one-time settlement on outstanding dues.
Asian shares were lower on concerns over growth slowdown in the U.S.
and China, while European shares rose on the prospect of a central bank rate cut later in the week. [MKTS/GLOB]
(This story has been refiled to remove the name of an analyst in paragraph 9)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Savio D’Souza)
