Benchmark stock market indices closed lower on Monday, as investor sentiment remained cautious ahead of the US Fed meeting. IT stocks were the major laggards dragging markets down.
The S&P BSE Sensex was down by 118.96 points to end at 81,785.74, while the NSE Nifty50 lost 44.80 points to end at 25,069.20.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said that indices traded largely flat as investors remained cautious ahead of the Fed policy meeting, with the IT index witnessing profit booking after last week’s rally.
“While a 25-bps rate cut is largely factored in, markets await guidance on the future rate path to gauge the trajectory for bond yields. Strong domestic consumption continues to underpin sentiment and limit downside, while renewed optimism around trade deals and an expected earnings recovery in H2FY26 are further supporting investor confidence,” he added.
Among the top gainers, Bajaj Finance rose 0.68%, Eternal gained 0.58%, UltraTech Cement added 0.40%, Larsen & Toubro was up 0.33% and Reliance Industries climbed 0.32%.
The worst hit stocks were Mahindra & Mahindra which slipped 1.67%, Asian Paints down 1.66%, Infosys falling 1.15%, Titan losing 1.14% and Sun Pharma dropping 0.85%.
At the closing bell, the broader markets were positive with the Nifty Midcap100 up 0.44% and the Nifty Smallcap100 gaining 0.76%, while India VIX rose 2.71%, pointing to higher volatility.
Among sectoral indices, Nifty Realty jumped 2.41%, Nifty PSU Bank gained 0.60%, Nifty Oil & Gas rose 0.30%, Nifty Financial Services added 0.18% and Nifty Metal was up 0.07%.
On the other hand, losses were seen in Nifty Pharma which slipped 0.64%, Nifty IT down 0.58%, Nifty Healthcare Index lower by 0.55%, Nifty Auto falling 0.39%, Nifty Media down 0.45%, Nifty Consumer Durables easing 0.16% and Nifty FMCG marginally lower by 0.01%. Nifty Private Bank ended flat with no change.
