Monday blues: Sensex, Nifty give up morning gains

• Tata Steel, JSW Steel, UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro were the major gainers.
• ICICI Bank, Nestle, Asian Paints were the laggards in trade.
• India's recent macro data releases have pleasantly surprised the markets.

Equity benchmark indices, the Nifty and the Sensex, climbed in early trade on Monday in line with firm trend in global markets and encouraging domestic macroeconomic data. Fresh foreign fund inflows also added to the optimistic trend in the domestic equity market. However, after the first hour of trade the market saw some profit taking and at the time of publishing its trading flat.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Tech Mahindra were the major gainers.

ICICI Bank, Nestle, Asian Paints and Power Grid were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading with gains. The US markets ended mostly in the positive territory on Friday.

Manufacturing activities in India gained momentum in August as new orders and output increased at the quickest rates in nearly three years, according to a survey released on Friday.

GST collections grew by 11% to over Rs 1.59 lakh crore in August on the back of improved compliance and reduced evasion, with experts forecasting higher mop-up to continue in the upcoming festive season.

Domestic passenger vehicle sales hit a record in August led by highest-ever monthly dispatches from Maruti Suzuki on the back of festive demand and the continued strong offtake of SUVs.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.05% to USD 88.59 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Friday as they bought equities worth Rs 487.94 crore, according to exchange data.

The BSE barometer had on Friday ended higher by 555.75 points or 0.86% at 65,387.16. The Nifty had spurted by 181.50 points or 0.94% to settle at 19,435.30.