After its biggest drop in over four months last week, market today remained sandwiched in a tight band by ending with measly gains amid mixed global conditions.
There was an element of choppiness too ahead of the June derivative contract expiry coming up on Thursday.
Investors still are a worried lot as they tried to digest the full impact of the Brexit fallout.
However, the broader markets came up a little better as they outperformed Sensex, with the small-cap index rising 1.52 per cent and the mid-cap 0.80 per cent.
Sugar companies found themselves in a sweet spot as stocks led by Dalmia Bharat Sugar, Dwarikesh Sugar, Sakthi Sugars and Bajaj Hindusthan soared by up to 20 per cent in an otherwise flat market.
The 30-share Sensex closed at 26,402.96, a marginal rise of 5.25 points, or 0.02 per cent.
The gauge had plunged nearly 605 points on Friday, its biggest single-day fall since February 11, as a shock victory for 'Leave' camp in the UK referendum sent shivers down the spine of global markets.
The NSE Nifty ended higher 6.10 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 8,094.70 after shuttling between 8,039.35 and 8,120.65.
In the Sensex pack, Dr Reddy's was on top of the gainers' list by climbing 3.04 per cent, followed by SBI (2.77 per cent).
"Domestic sentiment was given a bit of a boost after global credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service reportedly said in a note that the Indian government's recent decision to relax FDI rules is credit positive," said Shreyash Devalkar, Fund Manager - Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth net Rs 629.14 crore last Friday, provisional data showed.
In the 30-share Sensex basket, 14 rose while 14 declined and 2 remained unchanged.
Other major gainers were Sun Pharma (2.67 per cent), Cipla (2.62 per cent), Larsen (2.36 per cent), ITC Ltd (1.60 per cent) and Adani ports (1.11 per cent).
Shares of software services exporters such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro remained under selling pressure and dropped by up to 2.93 per cent due to their sizeable exposure to Europe.
Healthcare rose 2.01 per cent, capital goods 1.62 per cent, realty 1.29 per cent, FMCG 1.25 per cent, oil & gas 1.07 per cent and consumer durables 1.03 per cent.
Overseas, it was a mixed picture for Asia. Japan's Nikkei ended up 2.39 per cent and Shanghai Composite gained 1.45 per cent while Hang Seng shed 0.16 per cent and Singapore fell 0.20 per cent.
European stock markets mostly retreated as a key British policymaker tried to douse the fire after last week's shock Brexit vote. UK's FTSE and France's CAC went up by up to 1.46 per cent while Germany's DAX fell 1.32 per cent.
"The positive vibes from the global economy were
evaporating with the rising perplexity over the oil exporters' meet to find a consensus on production freeze. Investors are in a defensive mode on equities ahead of expiry and the market may turn volatile in the current consolidation phase," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
The market breadth remained negative as 1,430 stocks ended in the red while 1,254 finished higher and 215 ruled steady.
The total turnover on BSE worked out to Rs 2,890.15 crore, lower than Rs 3,435.24 crore in the previous session.
