Sensex, Nifty Snap Two-Day Winning Streak; Reliance Falls After Q1 Earnings

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their two-day winning run on Monday dragged down by losses in index heavyweight Reliance Industries after it reported 7 per cent decline in net profit in quarter ended June 1. The billionaire Mukesh Ambani-promoted company was the top drag on the Sensex followed by HDFC, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India and Larsen & Toubro, data from BSE showed. However, the downside was capped for markets as Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank and UltraTech Cement provided support.

The Sensex ended 124 points or 0.23 per cent lower at 52,852 and Nifty 50 index slipped 32 points or 0.2 per cent to close at 15,824.

"Nifty made an attempt to hold above an important support level of 15,800. While sustaining above 15,800 is the key factor from a short-term perspective, we expect the Nifty to extend the rally till 15,920-15,950, Gaurav Garg, Head of Research, CapitalVia Global Research told NDTV.

Seven of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty Realty index's nearly 1 per cent fall.

Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, FMCG and PSU Bank indices also closed with a negative bias.

On the other hand, metal, pharm and information technology shares witnessed buying interest.

Mid- and small-cap shares ended on a mixed note as Nifty Midcap 100 closed marginally lower while Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.3 per cent.

Shares of the country's most valuable company, Reliance Industries, fell nearly 1 per cent to hit an intraday low of Rs 2,084.75 on the BSE after its net profit in June quarter declined 7 per cent, annually, to Rs 12,273 crore on the back of increase in total expenses.

ICICI Bank shares gained more than 1 per cent on the BSE in a subdued market after the bank reported a jump in net profit in the first quarter ended June 2021.

JSW Steel was top Nifty loser, the stock fell nearly 2 per cent to close at Rs 704.60. Wipro, State Bank of India, Bharat Petroleum, Indian Oil, Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors were also among the losers.

On the flipside, SBI Life, Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco, Divi's Labs, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, Titan, Britannia and Sun Pharma were among the gainers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,837 closed higher while 1,515 ended lower on the BSE.