The Indian stock markets closed flat on Monday as selling was seen in the auto, pharma, FMCG, and metal sectors.

Sensex closed at 79,496.15 after a marginal gain of 9.83 points or 0.01 per cent.

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Nifty closed at 24,141.30 after a marginal decline of 6.90 points or 0.03 per cent.

Nifty Bank rose 315.55 points or 0.61 per cent to 51,876.75. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed at 55,853.75 at the end of trading after falling 498.25 points or 0.83 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 18,225.15 after falling 220.45 points or 1.20 per cent.

Buying was seen in the IT, PSU Bank, Financial Services, Private Bank and PSE sectors of Nifty. There was heavy selling in the metal, media and healthcare sectors.

Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, M&M, JSW Steel, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, and L&T were the top losers in the Sensex pack. At the same time, Power Grid, HCL Tech, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Maruti, ICICI Bank, HDFC, and Titan were the top gainers.

Asian Paints shares fell sharply after several brokerage firms expressed disappointment over poor second-quarter results. Its shares fell 8.21 per cent.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 1,539 stocks traded in green, 2,557 stocks in red, and there was no change in 117 stocks.

Market experts said that the actions of FIIs are dominating the current market momentum, which is backed by a weak set of earnings and expectations from Trump policy.

Domestic prices of gold slipped to around Rs 77,000 per 10 grams. According to the Indian Bullion Jewellers Association (IBJA), the price of 24-carat gold slipped to Rs 77,030 per 10 grams. The rate of 22-carat gold was Rs 75,180 per 10 grams and the price of 20-carat gold was Rs 68,550 per 10 grams. This trend is likely to persist as long as gold trades below the critical $2,750 resistance level, said experts.

The rupee traded flat near 84.38, maintaining its position at record-low levels as the dollar index remained neutral and FIIs showed limited selling activity at the start of the new week. According to Jatin Trivedi from LKP Securities, this week’s focus will be on the US CPI data release, which could influence the dollar’s trajectory.