Sensex ends flat, Nifty below 8,150

The broad market depicted strength. 1,525 shares rose and 1,131 shares fell. A total of 156 shares remained unchanged

Extending gains for the second straight session, the benchmark indices settled the day higher as gains in Asian markets and expectations of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its policy review tomorrow aided sentiment.

The S&P BSE Sensex settled the day at 26,393, up 44 points, while the broader Nifty50 failed to hold above 8,150 and ended at 8,143, up 14 points.

The broad market depicted strength. 1,525 shares rose and 1,131 shares fell. A total of 156 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices outperformed headline indices and finished 0.52% and 0.41% higher, respectively.

"In continuation to previous session, Nifty made a firm start but lack of follow-up buying capped its movement for most part of the session. However, sudden slide in last hour trimmed the intraday gains completely and dragged the index to neutral line," said Jayant Manglik, president, Retail Distribution, Religare Securities.

"Continuous underperformance from banking pack is keeping the uncertainty intact and we feel it'll finally be over on Wednesday with the announcement of Monetary Policy Committee's decision on key rates. Meanwhile, we suggest staying light before the event, considering the possibility of erratic market swings," he added.

Sectors and stocks

BSE Realty index was the top sectoral gainer and gained nearly 2%, led by gains in Oberoi Realty, Unitech and Sobha.

Other top performers included BSE Oil & Gas (1.17%), BSE Energy (0.89%) and BSE Basic Materials (0.91%) indices.

Among stocks, HDFC, Adani Ports and ONGC were the top gainers and added up to 2% on the BSE.

Tata Power Co rose as much as 3.6% to hit its highest in nearly a month after the company's strategic engineering division received a defence order worth more than Rs 200 crore.

Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys (IMFA) ended in upper circuit of 5% at Rs 475 to hit its 52-week high on the BSE.

The stock of India’s leading fully integrated producer of ferro chrome has zoomed nearly 200% in past four months from Rs 166 on September 6.