Sensex ends flat amid lack of participation

The Indian markets ended on a flattish note on Monday amid range bound trading session. Benchmark indices stayed in a very narrow trading band and struggled for direction through out the day. Buying was seen in the Pharma, Telecom and select IT stocks. On the other hand, the Oil & Gas and the Metals stocks were under pressure. The broader indices fared well as compared to benchmark indices.



"The impact of the Bharat Bandh by the BJP was clearly visible on Dalal-Street as volumes were sluggish, which indicated lack of participation by investors and traders in market. The turnover might be ~Rs500bn-550bn at the end of trading session today which was literally half of what we normally do", says Amar Ambani Vice President Research IIFL.

The 30-component BSE Sensex ended slightly lower by 19 points to close at 17,441 while the NSE Nifty remained almost unchanged at 5,236.