Sensex closes flat; oil and gas stocks decline

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Monday closed flat - 25.61 points or 0.10 percent up - on profit booking in blue chips that wiped out early gains of 419.68 points or around two percent.

Healthy buying was also observed in automobile, information technology (IT), technology, entertainment and media (TECK), capital goods and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG).

However, oil and gas, consumer durables, bank, realty, power and healthcare came under sustained selling pressure.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 24,913.89 points, ended the day's trade at 24,718.96 points (provisional), up 25.61 points or 0.10 percent from the previous day's close at 24,693.35 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 25,175.22 points and a low of 24,433.90 points in trade.

The S&P BSE oil and gas went down by 218.04 points, consumer durables index plunged by 163.59 points, bank index fell by 147.08 points, realty index decreased by 107.04 points, power index decline 68.23 points and healthcare index slipped by 41.78 points.

However, automobile index was up 181.72 points, IT index was 131.22 points higher, TECK gained 44.04 points, capital goods rose 21.93 points and FMCG surged by 18.21 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too closed flat. It ended trade 5.90 points or 0.08 percent down at 7,361.20 points.