Benchmarks snaps 3-day losing run; Sensex climbs 327 pts, bank & FMCG stocks shine

Mumbai: Equity indices regained footing on Monday after a three-session losing streak as investors snapped up banking, FMCG and IT stocks amid a positive trend overseas.

However, a lacklustre rupee and unabated foreign fund outflows capped the gains.

Overcoming a choppy start, the 30-share BSE Sensex gained momentum as the session progressed to close 326.84 points or 0.62 per cent higher at 53,234.77.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 83.30 points or 0.53 per cent to 15,835.35.

Hindustan Unilever topped the Sensex gainers' chart with a leap of 4.03 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, ITC, ICICI Bank, PowerGrid, Axis Bank and SBI.

In contrast, TCS, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr Reddy's, Tech Mahindra and Wipro closed with losses of up to 2.46 per cent.

Market breadth was in favour of the bulls, with 24 of the 30 Sensex counters logging gains.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge gained 0.82 per cent and the smallcap index climbed 0.59 per cent.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, FMCG gained the most by 2.49 per cent, followed by bank (1.08 per cent), capital goods (0.97 per cent), consumer durables (0.82 per cent) and industrials (0.74 per cent).

Energy, healthcare, IT, auto, metal, oil & gas and teck were the laggards.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.50 per cent to $111 per barrel.

The rupee paired its early losses to close almost flat at 78.95 against the US dollar on Monday.