Market Wrap, Aug 19: Sensex slips 316 pts from day's high, ends 52 pts up

Domestic indices pared gains in the afternoon trade to end flat on Monday. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 316 points to touch an intra-day high of 37,719 after hopes of a revivial package from the government lifted sentiment at D-Street. Sentiment was also supported by gains in the Asian markets.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 52 points, or 0.14 per cent higher, at 37,402 levels with buying being witnessed across the board. Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, and L&T ended the day as top gainers at the 30-share index, while YES Bank, Power Grid, State Bank of India, and ONGC settled as top laggards. The broader Nifty50, settled at 11,054 levels, up 6 points or 0.05 per cent.

Sectorally, pharma stocks gained the most, while public sector banks ended as the top losers. Nifty Pharma index closed 0.84 per cent higher, followed by gains in Nifty Media index, up 0.65 per cent, and Nifty Realty index, up 0.38 per cent. Nifty PSU Bank index settled 0.85 per cent lower.

In the broader market, S&P BSE mid-cap closed at 13,518 levels, up 27 points, or 0.20 per cent. The S&P BSE small-cap index settled 64 points higher, or 0.51 per cent, at 12,649 levels.

News reports further suggested that the promoters of the company were planning to restart talks with beverage-firm Coca-Cola for selling a part of their stake in the company to pare debt.

Shares of Godfrey Phillips India surged 9 per cent to Rs 1,088 apiece in the intra-day trade on Monday, rallying 53 per cent in past four trading days on the BSE after the company reported a more than double consolidated net profit at Rs 119 crore in April-June quarter (Q1FY20) on strong volume growth. The company, which is engaged in cigarettes and tobacco products business, had posted a profit of Rs 57 crore in the year-ago quarter.