Sensex rebounds 376 points, Nifty closes above 24,900 level on gains in FMCG, banking shares

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex bounced back from early lows and closed higher by nearly 376 points on Monday, snapping its four-day losing run following a rally in blue-chips ICICI Bank, HUL and HDFC Bank.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rebounded 375.61 points or 0.46 per cent to settle at 81,559.54. The index opened lower and hit a low of 80,895.05 points in early trade. Later, it recovered from lows and jumped 469.43 points or 0.57 per cent to hit the day's high of 81,653.36.

The NSE Nifty went up by 84.25 points or 0.34 per cent to finish at 24,936.40 after three days of fall.

Among the 30 Sensex firms, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement and HDFC Bank were the biggest gainers.

Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, NTPC, Tata Motors, Power Grid and Titan were among the biggest laggards.

"Despite a negative opening amidst weak global cues, the domestic market exhibited some recovery from last week’s steep fall. The market is currently attempting to gain stability between potential rate cuts and recession fears in the US," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower.

European markets were trading higher. The US markets ended significantly lower on Friday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 620.95 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.13 per cent to $71.84 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark Sensex had tumbled 1,017.23 points or 1.24 per cent to settle at 81,183.93 on Friday. The NSE Nifty dropped 292.95 points or 1.17 per cent to 24,852.15.