Equity indices end at record closing levels; Nifty50 closes above 11,500
Mumbai, Aug 20 : Positive global cues and recovery in the Indian rupee lifted the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 to provisionally end at record closing highs on Monday.
Heavy buying activity was witnessed in capital goods, metal and oil and gas stocks, analysts said.
Earlier in the day, both the indices -- BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50 -- touched their all-time intra-day high levels of 38,340.69 points and 11,565.30 points respectively.
At 3.30 p.m., the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange provisionally ended at a fresh closing high of 11,551.75 points, up 81 points or 0.71 per cent from its previous close.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex which had opened at 38,075.07 points, closed at 38,278.75, points, higher by 330.87 points or 0.87 per cent from its previous close. It touched an intra-day low of 38,050.69 points.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE Capital Goods index gained 668.41 points, the metal index rose by 332.36 points and the oil and gas was up 191.82 points by the end of the day's trade.
On the other hand, the IT index declined by 188.84 points, the consumer durable index fell 127.24 points and the Teck (technology, entertainment and media) stocks declined by 76.07 points.
The top gainers at the S&P BSE Sensex were Larsen and Toubro, Tata Motors (DVR), Tata Motors, ONGC, and Tata Steel. On the contrary the majors losers in the day were Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Hindustan Uniliver.
On Friday, the indices traded on a positive note with the Sensex closing at 37,947.88 points and the Nifty50 at 11,470.75 points.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
