Sensex ends down 36 points in lacklustre trade

Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended flat on Monday in a lacklustre trade as investors opted to book profits after the recent record rally in equities.

Weak cues from Asian markets also added to the muted trend in domestic equities.

After beginning the trade on a weak note, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 36.22 points or 0.05 per cent to settle at 79,960.38.

During the day, it went lower by 264.77 points or 0.33 per cent to 79,731.83.

The NSE Nifty dipped 3.30 points or 0.01 per cent to 24,320.55.

Among the Sensex pack, Titan, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Finserv were the biggest laggards.

ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle, HCL Technologies and Tata Motors were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.97 per cent to USD 85.70 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,241.33 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.