Business: Market closed on a stable note in sluggish trading

Mumbai. Mumbai. Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed flat in sluggish trade on Monday as investors opted for profit booking after the recent record rally in equities. Weak cues from Asian markets also further strengthened the sluggish trend in domestic equities. After opening the trade on a weak note, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed down 36.22 points or 0.05 per cent at 79,960.38. During the day, it fell 264.77 points or 0.33 per cent to 79,731.83. The NSE Nifty fell 3.30 points or 0.01 per cent to 24,320.55. Among the Sensex stocks, Titan, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Finserv were the biggest losers. ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle, HCL Technologies and Tata Motors were among the gainers. Asian markets witnessed a decline in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong. European markets were positive. US markets registered gains on Friday. In a volatile session on Friday, the NSE Nifty continued its record-breaking performance and closed at its all-time high of 24,323.85, up 21.70 points or 0.09 per cent. However, the BSE benchmark fell 53.07 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 79,996.60. Global oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.97 per cent to $85.70 per barrel. According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,241.33 crore on Friday.