In a turbulent day for the stock market, the indices struggled to sustain the intra-day record highs, witnessing a sharp fall in the last hour of trading.
The Sensex and Nifty 50, after reaching intra-day peaks of 72,562 and 21,834, respectively, closed on a flat note.
The Sensex saw a decline of 169 points, settling at 72,071, while the Nifty managed a modest gain of 11 points, concluding at 21,742. The Midcap Index, however, rises 291 points to 46,472. In contrast, Nifty Bank experienced a slip of 58 points, ending the session at 48,234.
The top stocks on the Nifty 50 were Nestle India, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra and Wipro while losers included Eicher Motors, Bharti Airtel, M&M, Bajaj Auto and HDFC Bank.
Among sectors, healthcare and PSU Bank rose 0.5% each, while bank index shed 0.5%.
Notable market movements included Nestle's surge of 3%, driven by anticipation ahead of its record date on January 5 for a stock split. Adani Group stocks also witnessed an upswing, gaining up to 5% during the trading session.
Conversely, the automotive sector faced headwinds as stocks slipped following lower-than-expected December sales, with Mahindra & Mahindra emerging as the top loser. Eicher Motors experienced a decline, influenced by the announcement of a ₹131 crore GST demand notice.
Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland, on the other hand, closed higher in anticipation of December sales figures. Bharti Airtel saw profit booking and featured among the top Nifty losers.
Vodafone Idea extended its gains from Friday, rising over 25% in two consecutive sessions. Gujarat PSUs enjoyed buying interest, with GNFC, GSPL, GSFC, and GMDC witnessing an upward movement of 5-6% during Monday's trading session.
