Mumbai: The benchmark index Nifty posted marginal loss but held on to the 6,050-mark in a volatile trade marked by selling in IT, bank, FMCG, infra and metal counters on the the National Stock Exchange (NSE) today.
The market sentiment was weighed down by the ongoing spectrum auction, two-day bank strike, worries over macro-economic concerns and FII selling as investors adopted a cautious approach.
Value buying in pharma, energy, auto and realty shares helped the market to restrict losses.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 267.26 crores on last Friday. as per the provisional data of Stock Exchanges.
Hectic profit-booking in telecom stocks led to Idea tumbling a hefty 8 per cent, while Bharti Airtel slipped 2.71 per cent. Software major TCS also lost 2.37 per cent. However, gains by DLF (up 2.94%), Sun Pharma 1.66 per cent and Maruti 1.44 per cent prevented the 50-share Nifty from ending deep in the red amidst choppiness. Shares of mid-cap firms witnessed profit booking, while small-cap companies gained.
The Nifty hovered between a high of 6,083.05 and a low of 6,046.40 before settling at 6,053.45, down 9.75 points, or 0.16 per cent, from its previous close. Major losers were JP Associates, HDFC, HUL, Kotak Bank, GAIL, NTPC, Cipla and SBIN.
The gainers included Grasim, Dr Reddy's, HCL Tech, L&T, IDFC, Grasim, ONGC and Tata Motors. Turnover in the cash segment dropped to Rs 8,916.28 crore from Rs 10,482.42 crore last Friday. A total of 4,822.56 lakh shares changed hands in 45,64,002 trades, while the market capitalisation stood at Rs 65,78,943 crore.
