Indian equity markets ended Monday's trade flat as investors were anxious ahead of the release of key macro economic data and negative Chinese financial cues.
Initially, both the bellwether indices of the Indian equity markets opened on a firm note supported by hopes that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill will get passed in the winter session of parliament.
However, concerns over the weak Asian markets given the major fall at Chinese exchanges on Friday and a decline in the country's industrial profits spooked investors here.
There were also concerns ahead of the release of the upcoming macro economic data like India's July-September GDP (gross domestic product) and eight core industries (ECI) numbers.
The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed flat during the day's trade.
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The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended marginally in the red. It ended lower by 7.45 points or 0.09 percent at 7,935.25 points.
The S&P BSE Sensex, which opened at 26,142.53 points, closed at 26,145.67 points -- 17.47 points or 0.07 percent up from the previous day's close at 26,128.20 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 26,231.06 points and a low of 26,089.13 points during the intra-day trade.
Market observers elaborated that the markets traded in a narrow range as investors were docked away ahead of the upcoming release of key macro economic data and the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy review slated on Tuesday.
"Markets performed in a lackluster manner ahead of the release of GDP and ECI data. There was caution over Tuesday's RBI monetary policy review and the commentary that the central bank will give in the backdrop of imminent US rate hike," Anand James, co-head, technical research desk with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, told IANS.
"However, there was a positive bias which was backed by the central government's efforts to build consensus over the GST bill, so that it can be cleared in the winter session of parliament."
Nitasha Shankar, vice president of research with YES Securities said: "Volumes remained thin indicating lack of participation before the RBI policy meet."
"Broader markets outperformed as buying in the high beta names was seen. Market breadth continued to favour the bulls with 1,620 advances and 1,085 declines. Reality, media, bank and auto indices witnessed good gains, while pharma, FMCG and energy indices came under pressure."
Sector-wise, during the intra-day trade so far, consumer durables, inforamtion technology (IT) and automobile indices gained, while healthcare, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and metal stocks came under selling pressure.
The S&P BSE consumer durables index augmented by 127.99 points, IT index gained by 115.79 points and automobile index was was higher by 84.64 points.
The S&P BSE healthcare index plunged by 67.77 points, FMCG index receded by 50.08 points and metal index declined by 25.03 points.
Major Sensex gainers during Monday's trade were Infosys, up 2.08 percent at Rs.1,088.45; ICICI Bank, up 1.67 percent at Rs.274.10; Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), up 1.41 percent at Rs.1,367.25; Tata Motors, up 1.39 percent at Rs.423.35; and Bajaj Auto, up 1.34 percent at Rs.2,481.55.
The major Sensex losers were Bharti Airtel, down 2.09 percent at Rs.334.50; Vedanta, down 1.96 percent at Rs.90.05; Coal India, down 1.65 percent at Rs.330.70; Lupin, down 1.31 percent at Rs.1,790.80; and Sun Pharma, down 1.26 percent at Rs.730.65.
