Top gainers, losers today: JSW Steel, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Finance; check full list

livemint.com:

Nifty ended higher on August 9, on late-session buying activity just one day before the monetary policy outcome. The three-day meeting of the six members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) started on August 8 will conclude on Thursday (August 10). Economists believe the RBI will maintain a status quo on rates and stance.

Besides, positive global cues also underpinned sentiment. Major European markets were trading with healthy gains when Sensex closed. European stocks rose after Italy said that the new windfall tax on banks would not amount to more than 0.1 per cent of their assets.

Italy announced a 40 per cent windfall tax on banks for the year 2023. Sensex opened 36 points lower at 65,810.96 against the previous close of 65,846.50. The index remained in the red for the most part of the day, falling 402 points to hit the intraday low of 65,444.38.

However, fag end buying saved the index from ending in the negative territory. ‘’The domestic market started adopting a defensive stance as investors awaited crucial inflation data for both India and the US. The deflationary trend in China and downgrade of the US mid- and small-sized banks affected the market sentiment,'' said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

However, a late recovery in the domestic market was supported by a positive uptick in the European market and hope of an optimistic RBI policy not impacting domestic economic growth Sensex closed 149 points, or 0.23 per cent, higher at 65,995.81 while the Nifty closed the day at 19,632.55, up 62 points, or 0.32 per cent. Mid and smallcaps outperformed the benchmark. The BSE Midcap index rose 0.39 per cent while the Smallcap index ended with a gain of 0.57