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Indian markets broadly witnessed a range-bound performance as the First Citizens Bank’s acquisition of failed Silicon Valley Bank calmed the Asian and European counterparts on certain degree on Monday. Although, Sensex and Nifty 50 ended in green, the gains were capped due to heavy losses in small-cap stocks. Healthcare stocks outperformed, while auto, capital goods and consumer durables stocks weighed on the mood. Heavyweight Reliance Industries and Sun Pharma were top gainers.

Sensex and Nifty 50 halted two days losing streak on Monday. Sensex closed at 57,653.86 up by 126.76 points or 0.22%, and Nifty 50 edged up by 40.65 points or 0.24% to end at 16,985.70.

Among the losers, Power Grid and Tata Motors took lead on Sensex with a downside of 1.06% each. Bajaj Finance, M&M, and Axis Bank followed by slipping around a percent each.

In the broader market, BSE SmallCap took massive beating as the index ended lower by nearly 401 points or 1.5%. BSE Midcap index also shed nearly 88 points.

In terms of sectoral indices, BSE Healthcare index rose by 158 points. While Auto and Capital Goods index were top laggards with a drop of nearly 182 points each followed by Consumer Durables index which was down by 169 points.

Ajit Mishra, VP – Technical Research, Religare Broking said, “Markets traded volatile in a narrow range and ended marginally in the green amid mixed cues. After the flat start, Nifty tried hard to inch higher however a sharp cut in the final hour trimmed the gains and it finally settled at 16985.70 levels. Most of the sectoral indices, barring defensive viz. FMCG and pharma, continue to reel under pressure wherein realty, energy and auto were among the top losers. Meanwhile, the broader indices underperformed and shed in the range of 0.5%-2%.”

Meanwhile, at the interbank forex market, rupee also performed better compared to its peers aided by dollar inflows and healthier risks. The local unit closed at 82.37 against the US currency compared to the previous session’s print of 82.48 per dollar.