Indian equities, the Sensex and the Nifty, ended the session flat as investors remained cautious ahead of the RBI's monetary policy on Tuesday amid weak global cues.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 10.48 points (0.06 per cent) at 18,635.82 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 1.3 points (0.02 per cent) at 5,665.80.
Among BSE sectoral indices, oil & gas (0.62 per cent), consumer durables (0.51 per cent), healthcare (0.27 per cent) and TECk (0.13 per cent) sector stocks were the major gainers.
On the other hand, capital goods (down 1.69 per cent), realty (0.72 per cent), power (0.68 per cent), and PSU (0.56 per cent) sector stocks were the major losers.
Top five Sensex gainers were Wipro, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Power, Dr. Reddy's and RIL, while the top five losers were BHEL, Sterlite, Tata Motors, L&T and Coal India.
European stocks fell as Hurricane Sandy headed towards New York City, prompting the US to suspend equity trading on all markets today.
The US is on alert because of Hurricane Sandy. According to international market reports,Wall Street is set to open for business as usual, although in a limited way.
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq suspended all trading today as the US eastern seaboard braced for Hurricane Sandy, dubbed as one of the most dangerous storms to hit the country.
Asian stocks were hit as earnings from companies including Honda Motor Co. disappointed investors and Hong Kong developers slid on a new real estate tax.