Equity benchmarks end marginally lower for the second straight day on Monday due to selling pressure in auto stocks and FII outflows. While BSE Sensex lost 139.58 points or 0.21 per cent to settle at 65,655.15, NSE Nifty50 moved in a narrow range to settle 37.80 points or 0.19 per cent lower at 19,694.

Within the Sensex pack, the Bajaj Finance was the major loser by 2.11 per cent followed by Mahindra and Mahindra (1.91 per cent) and Tata Motors (1.02 per cent). On the other hand, Bharti Airtel (1.48 per cent), HCL Tech (1.18 per cent), Wipro (1.16 per cent), Tech Mahindra (0.61 per cent) and Tata Consultancy Services (0.48) were some of the top gainers.

Broader market was mixed as the BSE SmallCap advanced 0.39 per cent, while the MidCap declined 0.06 per cent and BSE-500 lost 0.14 per cent.

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Despite the lacklustre performance, analysts still remain bullish on Indian markets.

Goldman Sachs has projected that NSE Nifty50 will touch 21,800 by the end of 2024 on the back of mid-teens earnings growth and a moderation in valuations. It also raised India to overweight on its resilient fundamentals and strategic appeal.

According to the global investment bank, Indian equities have delivered the best compounded annual growth of any regional index with “outsized alpha opportunities.”

While the returns trajectory next year will depend a lot on the global macroeconomic environment, including interest rates in the US, the strength of the dollar, and geopolitical uncertainty, domestic factors such as the outcome of State elections this year and general elections next year will have a significant impact on India’s equity market, it added.

Ajit Mishra, SVP-Technical Research, Religare Broking, said that since Nifty is witnessing time-wise correction, investors should utilise this phase to gradually add quality names.

Sectoral indices

Majority of the sectoral indices ended in red. While BSE Auto (0.69 per cent) and BSE Commodities (0.66 per cent) lost the most, BSE Information Technology (0.64 per cent) and Telecommunication (0.55 per cent) were the major gainers.

Market depth

Of the 3,980 stocks traded on BSE, 1,840 stocks advanced, 1,997 declined and 143 stocks remained changed. While 413 stocks hit 52-week highs, 32 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

FIIs

After turning buyers in the last two days, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) once again resorted to selling. They offloaded stocks worth ₹645.72 crore on Monday, per exchange’s provisional data.

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