After a positive opening, the 30-share BSE Sensex suddenly faced selling pressure in late-afternoon trade. It finally settled just 5.67 points, or 0.01 per cent, lower at 39,586.41.
Tech stocks proved a major focus of the market on Monday after HCL Tech announced the bagging of a major overseas BPO order.
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Sectorally, bankex suffered the most by dropping 2.62 per cent, followed by finance 2.44 per cent and realty 1.63 per cent. On the other hand, telecom was among the top sectoral gainers, rising 4.60 per cent. IT index rose 2.62 per cent.
Most of the large Indian IT services players, such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL Tech, have signalled increased offshoring efforts and opting for local hires in the US, primarily to address the immigration-related challenges.
Among major Sensex gainers, ITC rose the most by 2.32 per cent, followed by TCS, M&M, SBI and Bharti Airtel.
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The fall was led by banking stocks, with IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, Federal Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI declining up to 2.36 per cent.
The market proved tenacious in afternoon trades on buying interest in Old Economy and FMCG stocks. In addition, renewed buying was observed in banking stocks.
The laggards in the Sensex kitty were Vedanta, Tata Steel, M&M, HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, L&T, Asian Paint and HDFC
The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 23 points at 4,281.
Sensex lost ground towards the fag-end on selling in old and new economy stocks, and finally finished with a loss of three points.
Select companies in infra, capital goods, private banks, auto, oil & gas, and mining could be considered by investors.
NTPC was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, tumbling 2.25 per cent, followed by Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid, HDFC, Reliance Industries, Hero MotoCorp and M&M that shed up to 1.85 per cent.
The broader NSE Nifty, on the other hand, ended 2.70 points, or 0.02 per cent, lower at 11,555.90 in its third straight day of losses.
The Sensex, which witnessed volatility throughout the trading session, slipped deeper into the red towards the closing hours on steep decline in PSUs, heavyweights, cement and pharma stocks, and finally ended 39 points lower at 4,235.
The Sensex opened positive with a gain of 18 points at 3,596, but slipped immediately on profit-booking in old and new economy stocks, and touched a low of 3,573.
ICICI Bank topped the Sensex gainers' chart, spurting 5.09 per cent, followed by L&T, Bharti Airtel, Vedanta and Tata Motors, rising up to 4.60 per cent.
A late bout of buying in techs and selective gains in cement, pharma, heavyweights and media major Zee saw the Sensex finally finish with a gain of 17 points at 3,630.
In the Sensex pack, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, TCS, SBI, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Axis Bank and NTPC rose up to 2.66 per cent.
Gains were led by index heavyweights Reliance Industries and Infosys.
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The sector will see a minimum of 3-5 per cent of the weight being shed in almost every IT company - particularly the big 20 - because of Covid and not performance-related issues.
The Sensex opened on a flat note at 4,452. It is now up six points at 4,459.
Tech stocks were spurred on today by the firm U.S. markets and bargain hunting.
TCS and Infosys were the top losers in the Sensex pack, falling up to 3.39 per cent.
By the end of the June quarter, the top four - TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech employed 10,15,000 employees - down by 9,144 employees over the previous quarter.
ITC was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 3.14 per cent. Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Vedanta, Asian Paints, M&M, HUL, Bajaj Auto and PowerGrid were among the other top gainers, rising up to 2.13 per cent.
SBI was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 2.40 per cent, followed by Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, L&T, Sun Pharma, M&M, ICICI Bank, ONGC, RIL, Asian Paints, Vedanta and HUL, which lost up to 2.37 per cent.
'Long-term retail investors should not worry about these sharp dips and jumps if they have chosen their stocks wisely.' 'Short-term volatility is a given and a rise and fall of two-three per cent should not worry them.'
Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Asian Paints and PowerGrid, which rose up to 2.53 per cent.
Sustained foreign fund inflows and strengthening rupee are among the main reasons behind the market rally.
IT stocks saw massive selling pressure on Monday, falling as much as 6 per cent, after the rupee surged to 58.37 against the US dollar intra-day.
Top losers in the Sensex pack included ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Vedanta, HDFC IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, RIL and ONGC -- falling up to 4.45 per cent.
In the Sensex pack, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Infosys, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, RIL, Bajaj Auto, SBI, HUL, Tata Steel, Vedanta, HFDC, TCS, ITC and Sun Pharma jumped up to 4.64 per cent.
'Kindly advise about the following stocks. Can I hold or exit?'
Tata Steel was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 3.36 per cent, followed by Vedanta, Bajaj Finance, TCS, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, ONGC, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, M&M and ITC.
NTPC was the top gainer, spurting 4.28 per cent. Other winners were Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, ITC, Hero MotoCorp, TCS, Yes Bank, HDFC, HDFC Bank and SBI, rising up to 1.38 per cent.
The total market valuation of the BSE-listed companies is nearing the Rs 100 lakh crore-mark following the continued dream run of the bourse.
