BENGALURU, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Indian shares ended slightly
higher on Monday as investors looked past surging coronavirus
infections at home and took cues from global shares, which edged
up following a Wall Street-led rout in technology stocks last
week.
The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index closed up 0.19% at
11,355.05, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex ended
0.16% higher at 38,417.23. Both indices fell over 2.6% last
week.
"A small bounce back was due and so long as the liquidity
situation remains okay, we won't see too much downside," said
Samrat Dasgupta, chief executive officer at Esquire Capital
Investment Advisors.
"Unless we have a situation where lockdown starts again or
we have to reverse the unlock process, I don't see the (rising
coronavirus cases) as a big concern," Dasgupta added.
Coronavirus infections surged past 4.2 million, making India
overtake Brazil to be the country with the second-highest number
of cases.
World shares were up 0.2%, after losing $2.3
trillion in the last two sessions in a technology stocks led
rout. European shares also bounced, on a day where market
activity was likely to be subdued.
In Mumbai, debt-ridden telecoms carrier Vodafone Idea Ltd
ended 2.1% higher after the company unveiled a
rebranding on Monday. It had on Friday approved fundraising of
up to 250 billion rupees ($3.40 billion), as it tries to pay off
hefty dues it owes to the government.
The Nifty IT index closed 0.57% higher. IT major
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd rose 1.7% and was the top
boost to the Nifty 50.
The Nifty energy and Nifty auto indexes
closed lower by 0.51% and 0.48%, respectively.
HDFC Bank Ltd and Bajaj Finance Ltd were
the top drags on the Nifty, falling 0.8% and 2.6%, respectively.
($1 = 73.4750 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by
Shounak Dasgupta)