Sensex, Nifty Flat As ICICI Bank, ITC Drag: Midday Market Update

The benchmark indices remained largely flat during midday on Monday as ICICI Bank Ltd., ITC Ltd. and Power Grid Corp. dragged.

As of 12:23 p.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was flat at 21,456.80, while the S&P BSE Sensex was 64 points or 0.1% down at 71,420.12.

The Nifty, which went up by around 500 points last week, almost reached 21,500 mainly because the foreign portfolio investors put a lot of money into the market, according to Shrey Jain, chief executive officer of SAS Online.

"Right now, the market seems quite positive. But there's a chance that in the next few sessions, things might slow down a bit or there could be a small correction," Jain said.

For the Nifty, the support range is identified at 21,000–21,075, with resistance evident at 21,500. A breach of this resistance level can potentially trigger a further rally, according to Jain. "For the banking index, we anticipate the levels between 47,575 and 47,750 to serve as mid-term support."

Hindalco Industries Ltd., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Tech Mahindra Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd. and Bajaj Auto Ltd. were leading the gains.

ICICI Bank Ltd., ITC Ltd., Power Grid Corp., Bharti Airtel Ltd. and JSW Steel Ltd., were weighing on the indices.

Nine out of the 14 sectors advanced on the NSE. The Nifty Pharma rose the most, posting a 1.32% gain, while Realty declined the most.

The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices, with the BSE MidCap rising 0.45% and SmallCap gaining 0.65%.

Thirteen out of the 20 sectors compiled by the BSE advanced, with Services rising the most.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of the buyers. As many as 2,274 stocks rose, 1,494 declined and 153 remained unchanged on the BSE.