Markets pared most of the day's gains as investors booked profits at higher levels ahead of the Christmas holiday tomorrow and expiry of December derivative contracts on Thursday.
The 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange provisionally ended up 16 points at 19,258 after touching an intra-day high of 19,348 and the 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange ended up 8 points at 5,856 after touching an intra-day high of 5,872.
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(Updated at 14:30Hrs)
Benchmark Indices are trading in a tight range with Sensex and Nifty oscillating between negative and positive zone. Investors have booked profits at higher levels ahead of the Christmas holiday tomorrow and expiry of December derivative contracts on Thursday.
By 1430, Sensex gained by 14 points at 19,256, and the Nifty was up 3 points at 5,850 levels.
World stock, commodity and currency markets were steady on Monday, as the holiday lull set in across markets and offset tensions over the US budget dispute.
With only UK, French, Dutch and Spanish stock markets open in Europe and trading shortened ahead of Christmas celebrations, the FTSEurofirst300 opened almost flat at 1138.35 points to leave the MSCI index of global stocks virtually unchanged at 339.87.
Back home, BSE TECk, IT, Healthcare, Auto and Realty indices have surged by almost 1% each. However, BSE Oil & Gas and metal indices have declined by nearly 1% each.
IT shares like Wipro, Infosys and TCS have spurted between 0.3-1% on the back of weak rupee which helps boosts revenue as major portion of their revenues come from exports to the US.
From the Auto space, Tata Motors is the top Sensex gainer, up 3%. Bajaj Auto has gained over 1%.
Sun Pharma is up over up 2% on completion of acquisition of DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.U.S.A by its US subsidiary.
Other notable gainer includes Tata Power, HUL, NTPC, Coal India and GAIL.
On the losing side, index heavyweight RIL has gained nearly 1%. ONGC is the top Sensex loser, down almost 2%.
JSPL, Maruti Suzuki, Sterlite, ICICI Bank and Hindalco are other notable losers.
Among other shares, Kingfisher Airlines has locked in upper circuit of 5% at Rs 15.97, bouncing back over 9% from intra-day low on reports that the company has submitted a revival plan to the aviation regulator, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) has moved higher by 3% at Rs 18.30 after the company said it secured a construction order worth of Rs 231 crore in joint venture with Coastal Projects from the Northeast Frontier Railway.
The broader markets have outperformed the benchmark indices with the BSE Mid-cap up 0.28% and the BSE Small-cap up 0.34%.
The market breadth on the BSE turns almost neutral.