Sensex flat; Nifty below 24,750; Tata Motors sheds 5%, banks slip

Indian stock markets remained volatile on Monday, June 16, amid escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia. Investors grew cautious as Israel and Iran targeted nuclear and oil infrastructure, pushing up global commodity prices, especially crude oil.

The BSE Sensex closed marginally higher at 81,163, up 45 points (0.06%), after briefly touching an intraday high of 81,409. In contrast, the Nifty50 slipped 2.50 points (0.01%) to settle at 24,716, off its day high of 24,818.

Top Gainers and Losers

Among the notable gainers were Power Grid, Bharat Electronics (BEL), Cipla, Trent, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, Shriram Finance, Ultratech Cement, and SBI Life.

On the losing side, Tata Motors, Dr Reddy’s Labs, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, and Jio Financial Services saw the most pressure.

Broader Market Takes a Hit

Despite a positive start, the broader markets reversed gains sharply. The Nifty MidCap index dropped 1%, while the Nifty SmallCap index fell 1.5%, reflecting investor caution beyond the blue-chip space.

Sectoral Slide

All sectoral indices ended in the red following a sharp midday reversal. The biggest drags were:

• Nifty PSU Bank

• Nifty Auto

• Nifty Realty
  These indices declined up to 1.2%, contributing to the overall market weakness.

With geopolitical tensions and oil prices likely to remain elevated, market sentiment is expected to stay cautious in the near term.