Benchmark indices closed marginally higher amid volatility on Monday.

The market opened on a muted note ahead of mixed global cues. Asian markets were trading mixed following the release of China’s GDP data. On the domestic front, indices closed marginally higher led by auto and oil & gas stocks while financials, barring PSU Bank stocks and pharma dragged.

The BSE Sensex closed at 61,308.91, up 85.88 points or 0.14 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 61,385.48 and a low of 61,107.60. The Nifty 50 closed at 18,308.10, up 52.35 points or 0.29 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 18,321.55 and a low of 18,228.75. Breadth remains positive

The market breadth remained positive with 2,297 stocks advancing on the BSE as against 1,308 that declined while 134 remained unchanged. Furthermore, 758 stocks hit the upper circuit as compared to the 309 stocks that were locked in the lower circuit. Besides, 521 stocks touched a 52-week high level and 9 touched a 52-week low.

Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd said, “Markets started the week on a flat note amid mixed global cues. As the day progressed, high volatility was witnessed but the benchmark traded in a positive range for most of the session. Amongst the sectors, mostly ended in the green wherein auto, energy and realty witnessed healthy buying and supported the benchmark while pharma and financials were laggards. Meanwhile, buoyancy in the broader markets kept the traders busy.”

“Markets are currently witnessing time-wise correction and likely to resume the trend soon. Meanwhile, participants should focus more on risk management citing a rise in volatility due to the earnings,” according to Mishra.

As per Mitul Shah, Head Of Research at Reliance Securities, “Concerns about the near-term economic outlook and a bumpy rotation from high-flying stocks to cyclical appeared to contribute to market volatility.”

Hero MotoCorp, Grasim, ONGC, Tata Motors and Ultratech Cement were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, Cipla, Axis Bank and Britannia were the top losers.

S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities said, “Auto stocks shined in a flat trading session on the back of price hikes, thrust on electric vehicles and ETF launches in the sector as the basket of stocks posted smart gains. The Commodity Index provided good support in Afternoon Trade buoyed by earnings. The broader markets witnessed profit-taking in Pharma stocks with investor interest seen in Footwear stocks.” Auto in focus 

On the sectoral front, while auto, realty, consumer durables and oil & gas gained, financials barring PSU Bank and pharma dragged.

Nifty Auto closed 2.05 per cent higher. Nifty Realty was up 1.28 per cent while Nifty Oil & Gas was up 0.60 per cent. Nifty Consumer Durables closed 0.53 per cent higher.

Meanwhile, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index were down 0.73 per cent and 0.89 per cent, respectively. Nifty Bank and Nifty Private Bank were down 0.40 per cent and 0.50 per cent, respectively. However, Nifty PSU Bank closed 0.28 per cent higher.

Broader indices 

Broader indices were in green.

Nifty Midcap 50 was up 0.13 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 0.34 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was up 0.23 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 0.61 per cent.

The volatility index rose 1.26 per cent to 16.77.