Indian share markets began the March Future and Options (F&O) series expiry week on a volatile note on Monday. The BSE Sensex closed 87 points lower at 49,771 while the NSE Nifty 50 index settled 8 points lower at 14,736. Both benchmark indices fell for the fifth out of the last six trading sessions.

Adani Ports, Britannia Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra and Sun Pharma were among the top gainers, while losers include IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and HDFC Bank.

The outperformers were the defensive plays. The FMCG index ended 1.7 percent higher while the I.T. gained 1.8 percent. The Nifty Pharma index too was up 1.6 percent in today's session. The Nifty Realty index was the top sectoral gainer, ending 2.7 percent higher.

Sectoral indices had a mixed day in today's trade. The Nifty Bank was the top sectoral laggard, ending with losses of 1.6 percent. Other sectoral laggards in today's session were the PSU Bank index which fell 1.1 percent, the Media index, which fell 1 percent and the auto index, which saw a drop of 0.4 percent. Nifty Realty recorded the sharpest spike surging close to 3 percent, together with other Nifty indices such as FMCG, IT, pharma and metal trading up in the range of 1-2 percent. While Nifty Private Bank index bled the most with losses over 1.7 percent.

Broader markets saw the midcap stocks outperform in today's session. The Nifty Midcap index ended 0.8 percent higher while the Smallcap index was little changed.

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