Sensex, Nifty volatile amid thin volumes; Maruti most active

Moneycontrol Bureau11:25 am Expert: Many sectors have been engulfed in the aftermath of the demonetisation drive and the market too is bearing the brunt of the cash chaos. Expressing disappointment due to the cash ban, Anish Damania of IDFC Securities says that the market may not see a recovery soon and there will be three quarters of dismay. He said that the earnings growth will be impacted and earnings growth of non-financial sector can come down close to zero percent from 15 percent. Also read - India growth story intact; 3 Fed hikes unlikely: Citi11:00 am Market Check

Equity benchmarks as well as broader markets remained lacklustre amid low volumes ahead of Christmas holiday. Technology stocks were under pressure while HDFC group stocks led the support.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 11.65 points at 25967.95 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 9.60 points to 7969.50. The market breadth was negative as about 1133 shares declined against 954 advancing shares on the BSE.

Asian shares were in the red with little Christmas cheer in thin holiday trade. China's Shanghai and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were down over half a percent.

Sun Pharma climbed more than 2 percent on short covering and acquisition of 14.58 percent in US-based scPharmaceuticals Inc. HDFC, HDFC Bank, HUL, Reliance Industries and Maruti Suzuki gained 0.3-1 percent. ITC, Tata Motors, Infosys, TCS, Axis Bank, M&M and Adani Ports fell 0.7-1.4 percent.

Reliance Defence, Maruti Suzuki, Kushal Trade, Sun Pharma, Bharat Financial, Axis Bank and SBI were most active shares.