MUMBAI: Equity benchmarks – Sensex and Nifty, ended lower on Monday, halting a four-session rally, as investors booked profits, particularly in banking stocks.
The 30-share BSE Sensex remained in the red throughout the session and closed 452.44 points or 0.54 per cent lower at 83,606.46.
It had slipped as much as 576.77 points or 0.68 per cent to 83,482.13 during the day. The broader NSE Nifty shed 120.75 points or 0.47 per cent to end at 25,517.05.
Among Sensex constituents, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank were the prominent losers.
On the other hand, Trent, State Bank of India(SBI), Bharat Electronics, Titan and Bajaj Finserv closed in the green.
In the broader market, the BSE smallcap index advanced 0.81 per cent and the midcap gauge rose 0.67 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, realty fell 0.87 per cent, bankex declined 0.59 per cent, auto and metal slipped 0.49 per cent each, oil and gas eased 0.19 per cent and financial services dipped 0.17 per cent.
In contrast, capital goods gained 1.10 per cent, services climbed 1.08 per cent, industrials added 0.66 per cent, healthcare rose 0.56 per cent and consumer durables inched up 0.42 per cent.
Last week, the market had seen a sharp upsurge on the back of strong global cues and domestic institutional buying. However, profit-taking came to the fore which pulled down benchmark indices.
Tariff settlement
The focus will be on tariff settlement with the US government, as the due date is nearing and India is yet to conclude the agreement, which could create uncertainty amongst investors.
“While volatility will continue, India’s strong growth prospects going forward would temper the fall,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
In the previous four sessions, the Sensex had rallied 2,162.11 points or 2.64 per cent and the Nifty gained 665.9 points or 2.66 per cent.
The global market sentiment is moving in favour of equities on account of easing risk in the Middle East and the US trade deal hopes. However, the main domestic indices witnessed profit-booking after the recent rally.
“Investors are now turning their attention to quarterly earnings and will refocus the markets on fundamentals for valuation support,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
In Asia, indices in South Korea, Japan and China closed higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped. European shares were trading in the red.
US markets had ended on a positive note on Friday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs1,397.02 crore on Friday, as per exchange data.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dipped 0.15 per cent to $67.67 a barrel.
On Friday, the Sensex had climbed 303.03 points or 0.36 per cent to close at 84,058.90, reclaiming the 84,000 mark, while the Nifty advanced 88.80 points or 0.35 per cent to 25,637.80.
