Equity benchmarks ended marginally higher on Monday even as macro indicators showed that the economy is yet to turn. The Sensex rose 29 points to close at 18865 and the Nifty gained 22 points to close at 5704. Mid and small cap shares were the star performers of the day. Stocks from the realty and capital goods sectors did well, while auto, metal and FMCG sectors struggled.
DLF, Cairn India, Reliance Infra, Jaiprakash Associates and Dr Reddys Labs were top gainers on the Nifty. Sesa Goa, Jindal Steel, Bajaj Auto, TCS and NMDC were the top losers. The HSBC manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), an indicator of business activity in Indian factories, fell to 52.0 in March, after a surge to 54.2 in February. This was the biggest month-on-month drop since November 2011.
Also, government data showed that core industries of the economy declined 2.5 percent in February compared to a 7.7 percent increased same period last year. The weak numbers came in even as Finance Minister P Chidambaram said at a press conference in Tokyo that growth was expected to accelerate in the current fiscal, driven by fast-tracking of infra projects. Shares of Repco Home Finance had a disappointing debut, closing at Rs 164, down 4.65 percent over the issue price of Rs 172.
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