Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Dec 2 (ANI): Equity benchmark indices erased morning gains and remained volatile throughout the trading session on Monday to end at near-flat levels.

Traders said weak gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the September quarter and dipping auto sales after the festive season weighed on market sentiment.

The BSE SP Sensex closed 8 points higher at 40,802 while the Nifty 50 was down by 8 points at 12,048.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red except for Nifty metal. Nifty auto was down by 0.9 per cent after a host of companies reported negative growth in sales last month.

Nifty IT too slipped by 0.9 per cent while PSU bank dropped by 0.8 per cent. Nifty pharma was down by 0.7 per cent.

Among stocks, Yes Bank plunged by 6.6 per cent to close at Rs 63.80 per share while Eicher Motors lowered by 5.2 per cent to Rs 21,691 apiece.

The other prominent losers were Bharti Infratel, Bajaj Finance, ONGC, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, IndiaOil Corporation, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra and Tata Steel.

However, telecom stocks jumped after the companies raised prices of their prepaid voice and data services. Bharti Airtel gained by 4.1 per cent and Vodafone Idea closed 14 per cent higher.

The other prominent gainers included JSW Steel, Reliance Industries, Grasim and Asian Paints.

Meanwhile, Asian shares rose after upbeat China manufacturing surveys and as investors held to the broad view that a further escalation in US-China trade war can be avoided.

Japan's Nikkei jumped by 1.01 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged higher by 0.37 per cent. Mainland Shanghai Composite index rose by 0.13 per cent.