Sensex, Nifty snap three-day losing streak led by ICICI Bank, ITC

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their three-day losing streak led by gains in ICICI Bank , ITC, Hindustan Unilever , HDFC Bank , Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank . The Sensex rose as much as 758 points from day's lowest level and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 24,957 after hitting low of 24,753.

The Sensex ended 376 points higher at 81,559.54 and Nifty 50 index advanced 84 points to 24,936.40.

European shares began the week on a positive note after the benchmark index saw its worst day in over a year on Friday, while investors await a slew of economic data and expect the European Central Bank to cut interest rates later in the week.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.5 per cent by 12:41 pm on Monday, after it logged its worst weekly performance since October 2023.

Six of thirteen sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty FMCG index's 2 per cent gain. Nifty Bank, Financial Services, Private Bank and Consumer Durables indexes also rose between 0.4-1.2 per cent.

On the other hand, metal, pharma, PSU bank, oil & gas and auto shares faced selling pressure.

Mid- and small-cap shares underperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.26 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell 0.93 per cent.

Hindustan Unilever was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 2.85 per cent to close at Rs 2,920. Shriram Finance, ICICI Bank , ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consumer Products, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and Divi's Labs also rose between 0.63-2.3 per cent.

On the flipside, ONGC , Tech Mahindra , Bharat Petroleum, Tata Steel, Hindalco, NTPC, Tata Motors, Wipro , Apollo Hospitals and Coal India were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was negative as 2,380 shares ended lower while 1,658 closed higher on the BSE.