Indian equity markets remained subdued on Monday, with Nifty 50 and Sensex trading flat amid foreign outflows nd thin year-end participation

Indian equity markets opened largely muted on Monday, with the Nifty 50 dipping 0.03% to 26,033.95 and the BSE Sensex falling 0.06% to 84,988.94 as of 10:15 a.m. IST.

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Investors remained cautious amid thin participation and continued foreign outflows.

Broader small-cap and mid-cap segments showed little movement, while twelve of the sixteen major sectors were in the red.

The metal sector bucked the trend, rising 1.4%, supported by stronger demand from China and expectations of two additional U.S. rate cuts in 2026.

The sector has gained roughly 5% over the past eight sessions.

Among individual stocks, Vedanta gained 2% after being declared the successful bidder for the Depo Graphite mining block.

Coforge rose 2% following its $2.35 billion acquisition of AI firm Encora, aiming to strengthen its AI capabilities and expand in the U.S. and Latin America.

Conversely, Hikal fell 2.3% after reporting revenue discrepancies due to employee misconduct, leading to a 807 million rupee reversal for the September quarter.

Foreign portfolio investors continued to offload Indian equities, selling shares worth 3.18 billion rupees ($35.4 million) on Friday.

Year-to-date, foreign investors have sold a record $18.03 billion in Indian stocks.

“With the holiday season and the year-end approaching, trading volumes remain thin, keeping markets muted,” said Aakash Shah, research analyst at Choice Broking.

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Daily trading volumes for Nifty 50 stocks have dropped to 250 million shares in December from 300 million in November.