Nifty erases day's gains; RIL drags the index

Sensex closed down by 45.72 points or 0.13 per cent at 34,915.80 in today's trading session, while Nifty closed nearly flat, down by mere 10.30 points or 0.10 per cent at the level of 10,302.10.

Caution was witnessed in the domestic markets as investors had an eye out for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation at 4 pm on Tuesday.

Global indices portrayed mixed sentiments as Asian indices rose after China announced about improvement in manufacturing activity for June after the lockdown restrictions were eased to revive the economy.

Shanghai index, Hang Seng, Nikkei and KOSPI gained by 0.78 per cent, 0.52 per cent, 1.33 per cent and 0.71 per cent respectively. FTSE 100 declined by 0.47 per cent as UK's GDP figures for the first quarter were reported to be far gloomier than expected despite the fact that it included only the very early days of COVID-19. Dax and CAC 40 increased by 0.31 per cent and 0.076 per cent respectively.

Sensex gainers comprised auto and FMCG stocks such as Maruti Suzuki increasing by 2.77 per cent, Nestle India rising by 2.63 per cent, ICICI Bank gaining by 2.42 per cent, UltraTech Cement increasing by 2.11 per cent, Tata Steel up by 1.68 per cent, NTPC gaining by 1 per cent, L&T up by 0.75 per cent, etc. Sensex losers included PowerGrid dropping by 1.88 per cent, Sun Pharmaceutical decreasing by 1.84 per cent, Bharti Airtel down by 1.34 per cent, ITC dipping by 1.32 per cent, ONGC falling by 1.21 per cent, RIL down by 1.15 per cent, etc.

Amidst sectoral indices on BSE, Auto index was the biggest gainer, up by 1.05 per cent whereas Oil & Gas index was the biggest loser, down by 1.51 per cent. BSE small-cap index dropped by 0.75 per cent and BSE mid-cap index fell by 0.14 per cent.