The Indian equity benchmarks erased intraday gains to end on a flat note as investors lightened their positions ahead of the Union Budget which will be announced on Tuesday, analysts said. During the session, Sensex rose as much as 807 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 17,373 and low of 17,077.
The Sensex ended 77 points or 0.13 per cent lower at 57,200 and Nifty 50 index slipped 8 points to close at 17,102.
Investors booked profits in recently outperforming banking shares like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank and State Bank of India. However, the losses were capped as IT shares witnessed buying interest on value buying.
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Nine of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Healthcare index's 1.5 per cent gain. Real estate, pharma, media, IT and FMCG shares also witnessed buying interest.
On the other hand, banking, auto, financial services, PSU bank and private banking indices ended lower.
Mid- and small-cap shares outperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index advanced 1.5 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 1 per cent.
NTPC was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose nearly 4 per cent to close at Rs 140. UPL, Sun Pharma, Tata Consumer Products, IndusInd Bank, ONGC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Indian Oil and Bharti Airtel also rose between 1.4-2.5 per cent.
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On the flipside, Maruti Suzuki, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv and State Bank of India were among the top Nifty losers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,988 shares ended higher while 1,368 closed lower on the BSE.
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