Closing Bell: Sensex, Nifty recover from day lows to end flat; Infosys, Asian Paints fall, PSU banks shine

Closing Bell: Indian benchmark indices S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty50 ended flat on Monday recovering from day's lows. Markets started the trading session with a gap down tracking negative sentiments from the global stock markets. Frontline indices witnessed range bound trading session. INDIA VIX, a measure of volatility in Nifty was down 1.70 per cent at 13.25 at the day's end. 

Infosys, Kotak Bank and Asian Paints were the biggest laggards in terms of index contributors. 

Sensex, which fell over 500 points in the opening trade closed at 62,130.57, down 51 points or 0.08 per cent. Nifty50 managed to finish in the green at 18,497.15, up just 0.55 points. Banking gauge - Nifty Bank ended at 43,708.75, up by 75.30 points or 0.17 per cent.

In the 50-stock Nifty50, 28 stocks advanced against 22 declines. The top gainers were BPCL, Coal India, Divi's Laboratories, UPL and Nestle India while the top losers were Asian Paints, Infosys, Eicher Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Titan.

Out of 15 Nifty50 indices 12 were gainers. Nifty PSU Bank (+1.49 per cent), Nifty Oil & Gas (+1.15 per cent) and Nifty Metal (0.49 per cent) were the top performers. The losers were Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.92 per cent), Nifty IT (-0.49 per cent). Nifty Pharma ended with marginal losses.  

There was stock specific action in broader markets. In the Nifty Mid Cap 100 index, 59 stocks advanced while 41 declined. The top gainers were Yes Bank, Union Bank and Hindustan Petroleum while the top losers were Navine Fluorine, Cummins India and Dixon Technologies. In the Nifty Small Cap 100 index, 52 stocks gained, 47 declined and 1 remained unchanged. Suzlon gained 10 per cent in the pack and was the top performer followed by Jindal Steel and Chemplast Sanmar. Declines were seen in KEI, Fine Organic and Glenmark Pharma.   

Two new IPOs also opened today - Aban Holdings, Sula Vineyards. Uniparts India stock was listed today at a discount. The stock ended at Rs 539.55, down 35.45 points or 6.17 per cent.