Sensex, Nifty End On Flat Note After Hitting Fresh Peaks

(RTTNews) - Indian shares ended a volatile session little changed on Monday as investors looked ahead to the exit poll and the general election results for direction.

Escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and lingering uncertainty surrounding U.S. rate cuts also rendered the underlying mood cautious.

The 30-share S&P BSE Sensex crossed the 76,000-mark for the first-time ever and hit a high of 76,010 before giving up all gains to end the session down 19.89 points at 75,390.50.

Likewise, the NSE Nifty index hit a new record at 23,111 before finishing down 24.65 points at 22,932.45.

ONGC, SBI Life, Grasim, Wipro and Adani Enterprises all fell around 2 percent while Divis Laboratories jumped 3 percent on robust Q4 results. LTI MindTree, Axis Bank, Adani Ports and IndusInd Bank all rose over 1 percent.

Cues from Asia and Europe were mildly positive while the dollar held in a narrow range ahead of speeches from the Fed's Bowman, Mester and Kashkari due on Tuesday and the first reading of U.S. GDP for the first quarter due on Thursday.

Traders also looked ahead to the release of U.S., European, Japanese and Australian inflation readings this week for more clarity on the global interest rate outlook.

Oil prices were modestly higher in European trade, after having suffered another weekly loss due to Fed's cautious stance on rate cuts.

Gold edged higher due to escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. At least 35 Palestinians were killed and dozens more were injured as a result of Israeli air attacks on a camp in Rafah for displaced people on Sunday.