Sensex Gains For Eighth Day In A Row, Nifty Settles Above 10,500

Sensex and Nifty overcame a weak start to end higher today, logging their eighth straight sessions of gains. Sensex started on a weak footing today, tracking broader sluggishness in Asian markets. Selling pressure in Infosys shares, which fell as much as 6 per cent in early trade, weighed on Sensex. But gains in pharma, FMCG and banking stocks helped the Sensex offset the drag from IT stocks. The Sensex ended 112 points higher at 34,305. The Nifty settled at 10,528, up 47 points.

Shares of India's second-largest IT services company, Infosys, came under strong selling pressure after it forecast FY19 operating margin between 22 to 24 per cent, which Credit Suisse said was 100 basis points below expectations, and slightly lower than the previous year's 24.3 per cent. Infosys shares settled 3 per cent lower at Rs 1,132.

The future trajectory for the markets will depend more on corporate results, said Anita Gandhi, Whole Time Director at Arihant Capital Markets. Another IT major TCS is set to announce earnings later this week.

Tata Motors Ltd shares fell nearly 5 per cent and was among the top percentage losers among NSE50 stocks. The automaker's unit Jaguar Land Rover will cut about 1,000 jobs and production at two of its English factories due to a fall in sales caused by uncertainty around Brexit and confusion over diesel policy, Reuters reported, citing a source.

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State-run UCO Bank plunged over 6 per cent as the CBI filed a case on Saturday against bank's former chairman, several business executives alleging criminal conspiracy that caused a loss of Rs 621 crore.

Meanwhile, Gruh Finance gained 4 per cent after the housing finance firm, a unit of Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd (HDFC), posted an 18 per cent jump in March-quarter profit on Saturday. HDFC shares were up nearly 2 per cent.