People walk past the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India, November 4, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

BENGALURU, July 4 (Reuters) – Indian stocks recouped their first losses to close higher on Monday as consumer stocks rose after falling commodity prices, overshadowing a sell-off in metals companies due to concerns over falling demand from China’s main consumer.

The NSE Nifty 50 Index (.NSEI) closed up 0.53% at 15,835.35 and the S&P BSE Sensex Index (.BSESN) was up 0.62% at 53,234.77. Both indices had fallen about 0.5% during the session.

Wheat and oil prices fell, pushing the Nifty Fast Moving Consumer Goods Index (.NIFTYFMCG) up 2.66%.

A reduction in commodity costs, including palm oil and wheat, should provide relief to fast moving goods companies, said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president, research at SMC Global Securities.

The Nifty Metals Index (.NIFTYMET) fell 2.7% as iron ore and steel prices fell on the prospect of aggressive rate hikes that stoked fears of a downturn global economy.

The Nifty IT index (.NIFTYIT), meanwhile, fell 0.6%.

“The broader market narrative remains unchanged with a slowdown in global manufacturing, forcing investors to re-examine their views on stagflation versus recession amid falling commodity prices,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

Among individual companies, shares of cigarette maker in food maker ITC (ITC.NS) rose 3.15% to their highest level since May 2019 at 293.30 rupees.

Supermarket chain operator Avenue Supermarts (AVEU.NS) rose 3% after the company reported strong first-quarter sales on Saturday.

Consumer company Hindustan Unilever (HLL.NS) was the top performer in the Nifty 50 index, up 4.1%, while JSW Steel (JSTL.NS) fell the most, down 4. 72%.

Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bangalore; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel

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