Sensex, Nifty close in red; Parag Milk Foods tanks by over 4 per cent, Future Retail locks in at upper circuit

Sensex closed at 37,934.73 on Monday, down by 194.17 points or 0.51 per cent while Nifty declined by 62.35 points or 0.56 per cent to settle at 11,131.80.

In Asian markets, Shanghai index and KOSPI increased by 0.26 per cent and 0.79 per cent respectively while Hang Seng and Nikkei fell by 0.41 per cent and 0.16 per cent respectively. In European markets, indices such as FTSE100 and CAC 40 were seen trading in red, down by 0.16 per cent and 0.068 per cent respectively whereas DAX was trading in green, up by 0.30 per cent.

Gold prices rallied to a fresh record-high during today morning's session, tracking the trend in the international market as tensions between US and China and rising concerns over economic conditions are fuelling the move towards a safe haven. Gold futures reached an all-time high of Rs 51,833 on commodity bourses while Silver futures also hit the record-high of Rs 64,849 during the day. Reacting to signals of global tensions, oil prices witnessed a decline.

Sensex winners comprised Asian Paints rising by 3.90 per cent, HCL Technologies gaining by 3.02 per cent, Infosys increasing by 2.75 per cent, TCS up by 2.26 per cent, UltraTech Cement gaining by 1.99 per cent, etc. Sensex losers consisted of ICICI Bank falling by 6.11 per cent, HDFC Bank dropping by 3.55 per cent, Axis Bank dipping by 3.12 per cent, IndusInd Bank decreasing by 3.03 per cent, Bajaj Finance declining by 2.49 per cent, etc.

Amongst sectoral indices on BSE, Energy index was the biggest gainer, up by 3.10 per cent while Metal index was the biggest loser, down by 2.14 per cent. BSE small-cap index fell by 0.98 per cent and BSE mid-cap index declined by 1 per cent.