Markets end flat amid volatile trading

Mumbai: Market gauges Sensex and Nifty closed on a flat note after a see-saw trade on Monday as losses in auto and private bank stocks offset rally in telecom counters.

Investors turned cautious weighing weak GDP numbers and continued drop in automobile sales, bringing banking and auto sector stocks under pressure.

Besides, participants also took a defensive stance ahead of Reserve Bank's monetary policy meet.

After a volatile day of trading, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed marginally higher by 8.36 points or 0.02 per cent at 40,802.17.

The index swung between a high of 41,093.99 and a low of 40,707.63 during the day. On the other hand, the broader NSE Nifty settled 7.85 points or 0.07 per cent down at 12,048.20.

Shares of telecom companies surged on the back of new tariff plans announced by the operators to be effective from December 3 onwards.

Subdued sales numbers of automobile companies led to fall in their shares. Sectorally, telecom emerged as the top performing BSE index, surging over 2.64 per cent.

Other sectoral gainers on the BSE were energy, metal and basic materials, rising up to 1.28 per cent.

On the other hand, auto, IT and healthcare indices witnessed decline. Of the 19 sectoral indices, 4 ended in the green and 15 in the red.