Markets follow Asian peers to end in red; Sensex ends 170 points lower

In a volatile trade, benchmark indices ended lower on Monday dragged down by index heavyweights ICICI Bank, ITC and Reliance Industries amid largely weak Asian markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 170.89 points or 0.28 per cent to settle at 61,624.15. During the day, the index touched its 52-week high of 61,916.24 and fell to 61,572.03.

The broader NSE Nifty dipped 20.55 points or 0.11 per cent to finish at 18,329.15.

From the Sensex pack, Dr Reddy's, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Nestle, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, and Reliance Industries were among the biggest laggards.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Steel, Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, and Maruti were the major winners.

“Markets started the week on a muted note and ended almost unchanged, taking a breather after the recent surge. After the initial uptick, the Nifty index hovered in a narrow band and finally settled around the day’s low,” said Ajit Mishra, VP — Research, Religare Broking.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge ended marginally higher by 0.05 per cent, while the smallcap index climbed 

0.25 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, FMCG declined 1.29 per cent, power (0.69 per cent), capital goods (0.66 per cent) and utilities (0.49 per cent). Commodities, healthcare, IT, auto, consumer durables, and realty were the winners.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai ended lower, while Hong Kong settled higher.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading in the positive territory in the afternoon session. Wall Street had ended higher on Friday. The wholesale price-based inflation declined to a 19-month low of 8.39 per cent in October, on easing prices of fuel and manufactured items.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.16 per cent lower at $95.84 per barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Friday as they bought shares worth Rs 3,958.23 crore, according to exchange data.