Equity indices close flat after choppy session, Reliance falls by 1.7 pc

Equity benchmark indices saw a sharp fall in the afternoon session on Monday and closed flat in line with Asian peers.

The BSE S & P Sensex closed 39 points lower at 41,643 while the Nifty 50 lost by 6 points at 12,266. At the National Stock Exchange, sectoral indices were mixed with Nifty PSU bank falling by 1.3 per cent.

Among stocks, index heavyweight Reliance Industries lost by 1.76 per cent at Rs 1,570.95 per share. Yes Bank was down by 3.8 per cent, Nestle India by 2.4 per cent, State Bank of India by 1.6 per cent and Coal India by 1.5 per cent.

The other prominent losers were Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, Britannia, ICICI Bank and UltraTech Cement. However, those which gained were Zee Entertainment, Vedanta, Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy's and HDFC.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets were steady on trade optimism between the United States and China. Reports said US President Donald Trump had a good talk with China's leader Xi Jinping about phase one of the trade deal they struck recently.

But volumes weakened ahead of the Christmas holiday break and investors squared off their positions. Japan's Nikkei crawled up by 0.02 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng by 0.13 per cent. But South Korea's market was a shade weaker after losing by 0.02 per cent.