Indian Shares Closed Flat, Sensex Down by 17 Points

MAHARASHTRA, India – Indian stocks closed the session on Monday, the last for 2019, mostly flat with the benchmark index Sensex edging lower during the day.

The Sensex index was down by 17 points at the end of the trading session on Monday, settling at 41,558 points to end 2019. The Nifty index, on the other hand, was trading positively for the day, recording a marginal increase to close the session at 12,260 points.

The major gains in today’s trading were for auto stocks, with the Nifty auto index rising by around 1.5% during the day. Major gainers in the sector include Tata Motors, which recorded a 4.3% gain and a 3.3% increase for TVS Motor. Ashok Leyland also closed the session with 2.8% advance while both the Bosch Ltd and M&M recorded an increase of 1.5%.

Following a record high of 32,613 points earlier in the session, the Nifty Bank index declined to end the day, mostly unchanged from its previous close. The flat trading for the index was mostly because of the selling pressure in the ICICI bank, SBI, and TCS. The ICICI Bank recorded a 1% decline during the day while the SBI and TCS dropped by 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.

Meanwhile, the broader market strengthened during the session, with the BSE smallcap index rising by around 0.75% while the midcap index advanced by 0.29%.

According to the head of research at the Geojit Financial Services, Vinod Nair, the market remained range-bound following the investors becoming more cautious about premium valuation and the lack of new market triggers. However, Nair also stated that the valuation in both the mid and small caps has helped provide inflows to boost the performance of the broader market.

The Religare Broking VP for research, Ajit Mishra, also said that the stock market is expected to remain trading within its current range until the end of the week because of the lack of any big market triggers in both the domestic and global capacity.

Mishra further stated that market players, however, would watch for the auto sales data closely, especially with the positive sentiment that its volume growth will be revived. However, he added that December has since been a steady month, especially for the two-wheeler and the passenger vehicles industry.

Meanwhile, the Asian market was also mixed on Monday as market participants continue to watch for updates on the development regarding the signing of phase one of the trade deal between the US and China.