Sensex, Nifty close flat amid unabated foreign fund outflows, muffled earnings

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed flat in highly volatile trade on Monday as continuous FII selling, disappointing quarterly earnings and weak trends from Asian markets dented investor sentiment.

After gyrating between highs and lows, benchmark Sensex eked out gains of 9.83 points or 0.01% to settle at 79,496.15. The barometer gyrated 1,100.8 points between the day's high of 80,102.14 and a low of 79,001.34.

The NSE Nifty dipped marginally by 6.90 points or 0.03% to 24,141.30.

From the 30-share Sensex pack, Asian Paints tumbled over 8% after the company on Saturday reported a 43.71% decline in consolidated net profit to ₹693.66 crore for the September quarter, impacted by soft-demand conditions, material price inflation and a decline in decorative and coatings business in the domestic market.

Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, JSW Steel, NTPC, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finserv and Larsen & Toubro were also among the laggards.

However, Power Grid, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and ICICI Bank were among the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹3,404.04 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Hong Kong settled lower while Tokyo and Shanghai ended higher.

European markets were trading on a firm note. Wall Street ended in positive territory on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.83% to $73.26 a barrel.

On Friday, the BSE benchmark gauge declined by 55.47 points or 0.07% to settle at 79,486.32. The Nifty dipped 51.15 points or 0.21% to 24,148.20.