India's stock benchmarks closed the penultimate trading session little changed, as gains in information technology stocks were offset by losses in energy, oil & gas and metal stocks, with index heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd. shedding little less than 2%. Trading volumes were thin in a rangebound session on monthly F&O expiry day.

The S&P BSE Sensex was largely unchanged at 57,794. The 30-stock index rose above 58,000 level in intraday trade before erasing the gains. The NSE Nifty 50 also closed little changed at 17,203.95. Bajaj Auto Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 1.9%. Today, 27 of 50 shares fell, while 22 rose.

The S&P BSE MidCap underperformed, as it shed 0.2% while the S&P BSE SmallCap outperformed its larger peers as it added 0.2%. Twelve of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by the BSE Ltd. declined with S&P BSE Energy declining over 1.6%. On the flipside, S&P BSE Information Technology rose nearly 1%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bulls. About 1,853 stocks advanced, 1,508 declined and 99 remained unchanged.

"It has been quite a volatile month for Nifty, wherein Nifty fell to a low of 16,400 at the same time has also seen a high of 17,600. Currently, it looks like Nifty is going to end 1-1.5% up for the month of December. FIIs have sold equities worth almost $2.7 billion in the month of December. This is the 3rd consecutive month wherein FIIs would be the net sellers. Overall, FIIs continue to be the net sellers for the entire year 2021", Rahul Gupta, AVP-Derivative Sales, Institutional Equity, Emkay Global Financial Services wrote in a note and added "going forward the key technical level to watch out for Nifty would be 17,600; a break of 17,600 will ensure a fresh rally and a break of 16,800 will ensure a fresh selling in the market. So as of now, Nifty looks to be in a range of 16,800-17,600".

Bharat Forge Ltd. has announced a voluntary retirement scheme for its permanent eligible employees who have attained 40 years of age and have completed 10 years of service with the company.

The scheme pertains to only employees at the company's Mundhwa and Satara plants.

Source: Exchange Filing

Shares of NTPC Ltd. rose 3.57%, the biggest intraday gain in over four weeks, to Rs 127.55 apiece.

• The rise comes amid reports that India's largest electricity producer is seeking a strategic investor in its renewables business ahead of taking the renewables unit public in 2022.

• According to a Bloomberg exclusive on Wednesday, NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd. intends to conduct international roadshows from April 2022 to find a partner and is hoping that an investor will boost the value of the IPO, citing an official who asked not to be identified.

• Of the 28 analysts tracking the company, 25 maintained 'buy' and three maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 33.9%.