Rangebound markets end flat

Markets ended flat amid a range bound trading session on Monday as investors booked profits in index heavyweights and shifted focus to the broader markets.

The Sensex ended higher by 17 points or 0.1 per cent  at 17,767 and the 50-share Nifty advanced 5 points or 0.1 per cent  to close at 5,363 levels. The Nifty traded in a range of 25 points and the Sensex traded in a range of 80 points.

The BSE Mid-cap index ended up 0.3 per cent while the Small-cap index gained 0.7 per cent to end at 6,542.

Meanwhile, the European markets were also trading on a flat note as investors cashed in some of last week's sharp gains ahead of a German ruling on the euro zone's new bailout fund, Dutch elections and potential new stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The CAC 40 index was up 5 points at 3,524, DAX advanced 8 points to 7,222 and the FTSE 100 was down 2 points at 5,793.

The Asian markets also ended on a lacklustre note after weak U.S. jobs data and soft Chinese data weighed on the investor sentiment. The Hang Seng advanced 25 points to 19,827, Shanghai Composite advanced 7 points to 2,135 and the Nikkei slipped 2 points to close at 8,869.

Back home, Sun Pharma was the top gainer among the Sensex stocks. The stock advanced 2.6 per cent to Rs 684. Bharti Airtel ended up 2.3 per cent on reports that the company's mobile tower arm Bharti Infratel is planning an initial public offering to raise Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion).

Coal India, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, HDFC, Hindalco, Hero MotoCorp, Gail India, Infosys and Larsen & Toubro were also among the gainers from the heavyweight space.

On the other hand, Jindal Steel was the top Sensex loser. The stock slipped 2.2 per cent to Rs 345 ahead of the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) report on coal block allocation.

"The IMG on coal block allocation will submit its report to Coal Ministry of India on Monday as its three-day review of 29

private sector allottees, including Jindal Steel and Power and others in which relatives of politicians held positions, have concluded," reports suggest.

BHEL, State Bank of India, Wipro, Tata Power, Cipla, HUL, Maruti Suzuki, TCS ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and Dr reddy's Labs were also among the laggards.

On the sectoral front, consumer durables index was the top gainer. The index added 1 per cent or 63 points to 6,462. Healthcare, metal, auto, teck, PSU and IT indices also closed in the green.

At the same time, realty index was the top sectoral loser. It was followed by benakex, power, FMCG, capital goods and oil & gas indices.

Among the individual stocks, Pantaloon Retail (India) (PRIL) rallied 4 per cent to Rs 149 after Future Group Company announced merger of Future Value Retail, which houses Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, with the company.

Aurobindo Pharma ended higher by 3 per cent at Rs 132, extending its 8 per cent rally in past two days after the company received final approvals from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market anti-hypertension drug Amlodipine Besylate and Benazepril Hydrochloride capsules in various strengths.

Balmer Lawrie and Company dipped 6 per cent to Rs 584 on turning ex-dividend today. The stock opened at Rs 616 and hit a low of Rs 578 on the National Stock Exchange. A combined 16,619 shares have changed hands on the counter so far on both the exchanges.

ARSS Infrastructure Projects locked the upper circuit of 20 per cent at Rs 44.40 after the company said it has entered in to agreements with Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) Lenders led by State Bank of India.

The broader markets are outperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index closed higher by 0.3 per cent or 17 points at 6,143 and the small-cap index advanced 0.7 per cent to 6,542.

The overall breadth was marginally positive as 1,526 stocks advanced while 1,308 declined.