The market saw a see-saw trade on Monday marked by a strong opening, a mid-day fall and a recovery in the closing hours to end with an overall decline amid global headwinds. The Sensex fell 0.15 per cent to close at 73085.94 while the Nifty fell 0.02 per cent to close at 22119.30.
Both benchmark indices, however, saw a positive advance decline reflecting early signs of an underlying improvement even as concern prevailed over FII selloffs, US tariffs and ongoing geopolitical tensions.
While in the 30 stock Sensex, there were 18 advances and 12 declines, in the 50 stock Nifty, there were 33 advances and 17 declines.
From the Sensex pack, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports, Maruti Suzuki India, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Asian Paints were among the laggards, primarily reflecting selloffs in the large caps.
UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro and State Bank of India were the gainers.
From the Nifty 50 pack, Bajaj Auto, Coal India, Reliance, Bajaj Finserv and HDFC Bank were among the top losers, while BPCL, JSW Steel, Eicher Motors, Grasim, Bharat Electronics were among the top gainers.
“The Nifty opened higher, attempting a rebound post Friday’s sell-off but gave up early gains to close flat at 22119 level. Concerns over continued FII selling, the imposition of tariffs by the US on Canada, Mexico and China starting tomorrow, and ongoing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine continue to impact domestic market sentiments,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head - research, wealth management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
“The broader market traded mixed. While Nifty Midcap 100 was marginally up, snapping five consecutive sessions of losses, Smallcap 100 was down 0.3 per cent, extending the loss for the sixth consecutive day.
On the sectoral front, realty, metals, consumer durables and IT were up between 0.8 and 1.3 per cent, while oil and gas and banks were down 0.5-0.8 per cent,” said Khemka.
“Nifty remained above the psychologically important 22000 mark, which is expected to serve as short-term support. A breach of this level could pull the Nifty toward the next support band of 21700-21750. On the upside, the 22450-22500 band may present resistance,” said Devarsh Vakil, head of prime research, HDFC Securities.
Analysts are also expecting prospects of a rebound with investors remaining optimistic about the fundamentals of the Indian macroeconomy.
“Although the recent sell-off has been relentless, the oversold conditions combined with the start of a new month keep hopes alive for an intermediate rebound in the near term,” said Rajesh Bhosale, technical analyst at Angel One.
“With valuations approaching oversold levels, domestic indicators suggest the potential for a rebound,” Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.
In Asian markets, Tokyo and Hong Kong ended in green, while Shanghai in red. Seoul stock markets were closed due to a holiday. European markets were trading in the positive territory in the mid-session deals.
The US markets ended positive on Friday.