Equity markets settle higher for 2nd day

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices ended with gains on Monday, extending their previous day's rally, unfazed by a weak trend in global markets amid buying in Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries.

However, continuous foreign fund outflows prevented markets from registering a sharp rally. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 232.23 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 65,953.48. During the day, it jumped 346.65 points or 0.52 per cent to 66,067.90. The NSE Nifty advanced 80.30 points or 0.41 per cent to end at 19,597.30. From the Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra jumped over 4 per cent, emerging as the biggest gainer.

Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, JSW Steel, Wipro, Maruti, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and ICICI Bank were the other major gainers. State Bank of India, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Nestle and HDFC Bank were the laggards. In Asian markets, Tokyo settled in the green while Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower. European markets were trading in the negative territory. The US markets ended lower on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.73 per cet to USD 85.63 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 556.32 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. After five months of sustained buying, foreign investors have turned net sellers and pulled out over Rs 2,000 crore from the Indian equities in the first week of August. After three days of decline, the BSE benchmark on Friday climbed 480.57 points or 0.74 per cent to settle at 65,721.25. The Nifty advanced 135.35 points or 0.70 per cent to end at 19,517.