Closing Bell: Nifty, Sensex end flat as market snaps 3-day winning streak; Airtel slumps over 5%

The Indian markets on Monday snapped a three-day gaining streak, to end negative as Sensex closed over 86 points lower, while Nifty50 settled above 16200. All sectoral indices were in the green at the close except for Nifty IT, down over 3 per cent amid weak TCS results. 

At the market close, the BSE Sensex was down 86 points or 0.16 per cent to 54,395, and Nifty50 down 5 points or 0.03 per cent to 16,216. While the broader markets outperformed the benchmarks as both mid and small-cap gained nearly 1 per cent, continuing their upward rally at the close. 

As many as 28 stocks advanced and 22 declined on Nifty50 at the close. Eicher Motor became the top Nifty gainer to close over 4 per cent higher, followed by ONGC and Tata Steel each up over 3 per cent. While M&M and Dr Reddy’s Lab each gained over 2.5 per cent at the close. 

On the contrary, Bharti Airtel became the top Nifty loser, to close over 5 per cent lower as Adani Group announced a foray into 5G spectrum auction, followed by TCS down over 4.5 per cent amid weak Q1 earnings, ahead of its results on Tuesday, HCL Tech dipped over 4 per cent at the close. 

Banks support the market with banking majors ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and IndusInd Bank each rising over 1 per cent. Steel stocks bounce on reports of government planning to relook at export duty and old economy stocks rise with the energy index gaining the most.

Granules, Nippon Life, Exide, Intellect, and Atul were top Midcap gainers, while Midcap IT stocks such as Persistent, Coforge, L&T Info, and Mindtree were top losers.