Sensex ends flat, auto stocks down

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets ended Monday's trade flat, as automobile, consumer durables and oil and gas stocks fell.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,863.15 points, closed at 20,859.53 points (provisional), down 34.36 points or 0.16 percent from the previous day's close at 20,893.89 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 20,948.91 points and a low of 20,810.25 intra-day.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed flat. It ended at 6,203.25 points (provisionally), up 1.70 points or 0.03 percent.

Heavy buying pressure was observed in automobile, consumer durables and oil and gas stocks. However, healthy buying was observed in capital goods, information technology (IT) and public sector undertakings (PSUs) sectors.

The S&P BSE automobile index lost 73.67 points, while consumer durables index was down 46.21 points, and the oil and gas index was lower by 31.13 points.

However, capital goods index was up 100.22 points, followed by IT index, which gained 46.31 points, and PSU index which ended the day 37.04 points up.