NIFTY50 and Sensex close flat, Reliance and ITC help the market to trim losses

The Indian equity benchmark indices commenced the first trading session of the week on a muted note. Due to a lack of momentum, the indices remained range-bound throughout the day, ultimately settling with modest losses.

The NIFTY50 index and SENSEX closed with marginal cuts of 0.01% and 0.05%, respectively. Despite the minor loss, the NIFTY50 managed to hold onto the level of 24,300 on a closing basis. While the frontline indices ended the day with slight declines, the Nifty Bank experienced a comparatively sharper drop, closing down by 0.45% on Monday.

In addition, the India VIX surged by 7%, closing around the 13.60 mark, indicating a rise in market volatility.

Top Gainers & Losers

Index Movers

Coming to the NIFTY50 index pullers and draggers, ITC (+21.21 pts), Reliance (+18.56 pts), Infosys (+11.03 pts), ONGC (+10.54 pts), and Hindustan Unilever (+6.87 pts) were the pullers of the day. Draggers included HDFC Bank (-20.02 pts), Titan (-10.28 pts), M&M (-6.79 pts), Divi’s Lab (-4.32 pts), and Tata Steel (-4.14 pts).

Broader indices

The broader markets ended the day in red. Nifty Midcap 100 fell by 0.35%, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index declined by 0.17%. Market breadth was weak on Monday as the declining stocks outnumbered the advancing stocks.

Sectoral Indices

Among sectors, most of the indices closed in red. The top three sectoral gainers were NIFTY FMCG (+1.63%), Nifty Oil & Gas (+0.88%), and Nifty IT (+0.06%). The top laggards included Nifty PSU Bank (-1.60%), NIFTY Consumer Durables (-1.28%), and Nifty Metal (-0.93%).

Global Markets

Most Asian markets concluded the trading session on a negative note. The Nikkei 225 declined by 0.06%, the Shanghai index fell by 0.93%, and the Kospi closed down by 0.15%.

At 3:53 PM, the Dow Jones Futures were trading up by 4 points at 39,699.