Indian markets started the week on a flat note. The BSE Sensex was down 30 points (-0.2 per cent) from its previous close to end the day at 19751, while the NSE Nifty was down 12 points (-0.2 per cent) to close at 5987.
“After an initial strong start, market saw continuous profit booking for rest of the day. The pressure was seen in financial and health care stocks. International markets viz. Dow Jones is now trading near its life time high. It is generally observed that previous major high act as strong resistance. So one could see some profit booking coming in there,” said Milan Bavishi, Head Research, Inventure Growth & Securities.
On the BSE, only stocks of the auto sector gained, up 0.5 per cent. Stocks of the PSU index sector were down the most at 1.6 per cent, healthcare sector index and power was down 1.4 per cent.
Among the Sensex stocks, the top five gainers were HDFC, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Jindal Steel and TCS. The top five laggards were BHEL, Cipla, SBI, Tata Power and ONGC.