New Delhi, 05 October (H.S.):

The losing streak in the domestic stock market finally came to an end on Monday, the first trading day of the week. Positive cues from global markets and a slight easing in crude oil prices revived investor sentiment, with both benchmark indices of the domestic market, the Sensex and the Nifty, closing higher.

At the close of trading, the benchmark Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) rose 472.77 points, or 0.66 per cent, to close at 72,382.47. During the session, it had climbed as much as 722.23 points, or 1 per cent, to touch an intraday high of 72,631.93.

The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also gained 133.80 points, or 0.60 per cent, to settle at 22,555.75. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, shares of ITC, Eternal, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and Larsen & Toubro ended in positive territory. In contrast, shares of HCLTech, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, Infosys and Asian Paints declined.

The Indian rupee weakened by five paise against the US dollar on Monday to close provisionally at 96.30 per dollar, weighed down by elevated crude oil prices and continued foreign capital outflows. During the session, the rupee traded in a narrow range around the crucial 96-per-dollar level. In the international market, Brent crude futures rose 0.19 per cent to $102.40 per barrel.

Meanwhile, among Asian equity markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced more than 2 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed with a marginal gain. South Korea’s KOSPI and China’s SSE Composite remained closed for a holiday. European markets showed a mixed trend in afternoon trading.

On the previous Thursday, the Sensex had declined 570.59 points, or 0.79 per cent, to close at 71,909.70, while the Nifty fell 198.50 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 22,421.95. The stock markets remained closed on Friday on account of Gandhi Jayanti.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar