Indian shares pared early gains to end lower on Monday, as initial enthusiasm over the phase one Sino-US trade pact gave way to concerns about the lack of concrete details on the agreement. Indices were dragged down by losses in metal, auto and FMCG indices. Decline in index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, ITC, HUL, and HDFC Bank added to the woes.

Share Market Live

NSE

The Street was also cautious as inflation numbers failed to impress investors. Wholesale prices based inflation advanced to 0.58 percent in November, driven by an increase in prices of food articles. The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation stood at 0.16 percent in October.

The BSE Sensex settled 71 points lower at 40,939, while the NSE Nifty50 was down by 26 points to end at 12,061. Broader market indices also traded mixed with the Nifty MidCap 100 index closing down 0.6 percent, while the SmallCap100 index slipping 0.10 percent.

In intra-day deals, the BSE Sensex rose 175 points to hit a new high of 41,185, while the Nifty Bank index advanced 143 points to its all-time high of 32,157.

TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank and Bajaj Finserv were top Nifty gainers for the day, up between 0.8-3 percent, while Grasim, Adani Ports, ITC, Eicher Motors, and JSW Steel led the losses.

Sectoral indices traded largely lower with Nifty FMCG and Nifty Metal indices losing over 1.2 percent each. Nifty Auto also fell 1 percent, while Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Media shed over 0.5 percent each. Meanwhile, Nifty IT rallied over 1 percent and Nifty Realty was up 0.3 percent. Nifty Bank ended flat after hitting a record high in morning deals.

Metal stocks were under pressure over US-China deal skepticism. SAIL, NALCO, JSW Steel, Coal India, Tata Steel, and Vedanta lost between 1.5-3 percent during the day.

Globally, the lingering skepticism about the deal and ongoing relations between China and the United States also capped a rally in broader Asian peers, with the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.27 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 succumbed to some profit-taking, falling 0.29 percent after surging 2.55 percent to a 14-month closing high on Friday.

First Published:Dec 16, 2019 3:30 PM IST