The benchmark indices ended the last session of the decade on a negative note with the Sensex down 304 points on Tuesday and the Nifty 87 points as investors stayed in the sidelines.

Calender year 2019 was, however, was a good one for the benchmarks — the Sensex gained 14 per cent and the Nifty, 12 per cent — though the mid-cap and small-cap indices delivered negative returns. While the Nifty mid-cap index dropped around five per cent, the small-cap index fell almost 11 per cent.

The gains in the benchmark indices, which have confounded some analysts, came as the economy passed through a slowdown marked by a slump in consumer goods and automobiles. According to Rusmik Oza, senior vice-president (head of fundamental research), Kotak Securities, only a handful of stocks contributed to the returns in the Nifty-50, just like a year ago.

In the Nifty pack, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries led the list of gainers. Yes Bank was the biggest loser, with its shares crashing around 74 per cent, along with Zee Entertainment, GAIL (India) and Vedanta.

Oza said that there was hardly any scope of re-rating left in the Nifty-50 as it was trading close to its previous peak valuations. “Given today’s economic situation, the Nifty mid-cap index seems to be fairly valued in relation to its performance and valuations with Nifty-50. One can go slow on richly valued sectors like consumers staples/discretionary/durables,” he said.

The Sensex opened in the green at 41607.49, but could not breach these levels as the lack of triggers saw investors staying away from the market. After hitting a low of 41,184.73, the index ended at 41,253.74, lower by 304.26 points, or 0.73 per cent.