Sensex, Nifty trade flat; Nifty PSU Bank top sectoral loser

Benchmark indices were trading flat in the afternoon trade on Monday with BSE Sensex at 33,356.76 up 0.04 per cent or 14 points while Nifty50 was 0.03 per cent or 3 points up at 10,286.40.

Gains in shares of Hero MotoCorp (up 1.41 per cent), Coal India (up 1.23 per cent), Kotak Bank (up 1.03 per cent), Larsen & Toubro (up 1.02 per cent) were pared by stocks such as ICICI Bank (down 1.81 per cent), Cipla (Down 1.48 per cent), SBI (down 1.10 per cent) and Infosys (down 0.82 per cent) on BSE.

Nifty PSU Bank index was the top sectoral loser, trading 0.81 per cent lower at 4,035.95. Nifty Auto (up 0.31 per cent) was the top gainer at around 12 pm (IST).

09.20 am: Sensex, Nifty start on a choppy note; Biocon surges 5%, RCom slips 4%
Domestic benchmark indices turned choppy on Monday after rallying in Friday's session on Moody's sovereign rating upgrade. Indices fell marginally tracking weak cues from other Asian markets.

At 9.20 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 14.66 points, or 0.04 per cent, higher at 33,357.46. Nifty50 fell 1.70 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 10,281.90.

"In the near term market sentiment would also be driven by the outcome of some of the state elections as well as the trajectory of GDP growth. The movement of global oil prices and any geo political developments would be some of the key external risks which one should be mindful of,” Shibani Kurian, Senior Vice President and Head of Equity Research, Kotak Mutual Fund said.

Larsen & Toubro rose 1.86 per cent to Rs 1,224. The company's its construction arm has bagged Rs 8,650 crore order from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The Heavy Civil Infrastructure business vertical of L&T Construction bagged a order worth Rs 8,650 crore from the MMRDA for construction of Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, the engineering and construction major said in a BSE filing.

Maruti Suzuki rose 1.19 per cent to Rs 8,439.95. Adani Ports, NTPC and ONGC rose 1.22 per cent, 1.19 per cent and 0.99 per cent, respectively.

ITC, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors 0.72 per cent, 0.90 per cent and 0.66 per cent, respectively.

ICICI Bank, Cipla and Infosys declined 1.05 per cent, 0.93 per cent and 0.71 per cent, respectively. Tat Steel M&M and SBI declined up to 0.5 per cent.

In a key rejig to the BSE Sensex components, private sector lenders, IndusInd Bank and YES Bank will enter the 30-share pack, replacing drug firms Cipla and Lupin. The changes are announced by Asia Index, a joint venture between S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and BSE. The move is a part of Asia Index's semi-annual reconstitution results. "Effective at the open of Monday, December 18, 2017,...changes will be made," the index provider noted.